RFK Jr. Completely Flip-Flops on Vaccines

*and other lies the media would love for you to swallow

ICYMI, a coffee klatch of crunchy moms, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, homesteaders, homeschoolers, Big Pharma skeptics, disaffected Trump supporters, and a sizable chunk of the MAHA mafia are having a collective conniption over the op-ed RFK Jr. penned for FOX News this week about the current measles outbreak. And I will concede—particularly if you’re not a fan of reading [between the lines] and you have the patience of a toddler waiting in line to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant at Disneyland—that on the surface, the piece could be construed as a bit of a disappointment.

[*ducks in case any crunchy moms throw rocks at my head]

The list of things-not-to-love about the essay is pretty easy to pick out, but I’ll bullet-point it for you because I’m codependent that way (all emphasis mine):

• “Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals.” Wait, what? Now Kennedy’s a vaccine fan?

• “In response to this outbreak, I have directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to work closely with the Texas health authorities to provide comprehensive support. HHS’ efforts include offering technical assistance, laboratory support, vaccines, and therapeutic medications as needed.” He said the v-word again! The lying traitor!

• “We must engage with communities to understand their concerns, provide culturally competent education, and make vaccines readily accessible for all those who want them.” OMG Pharma got him! He’s on the payroll now!

• “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” Stop the ride already. I want off.

Like I said, it was hardly the swift and complete pulling of vaccine life support many were awaiting from the famously pharmaspicious Secretary of Health and Human Services we fought to put in office.

But let’s dig a little deeper, shall we? I’ll start with those very same quotes:

• “Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals.” This is not necessarily a pro-vaccine rant; it’s a fact. It’s been established that measles vaccines *can* prevent infection and transmission—of a disease that’s mild for a vast majority of patients. Could this be a tiny little bone thrown to the folks who’d love to see Kennedy‘s metaphorical head on a platter?

• “In response to this outbreak, I have directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) to work closely with the Texas health authorities to provide comprehensive support. HHS’ efforts include offering technical assistance, laboratory support, vaccines, and therapeutic medications as needed.” He promised all of us, fans and foes alike, that he was not going to take anyone’s vaccines away—he simply wants them to be safe (which we all know at present, they are not, a fact I have no doubt he’s working behind the scenes to fix). This is not a shocking turn of events.

• “We must engage with communities to understand their concerns, provide culturally competent education, and make vaccines readily accessible for all those who want them.” For… all… those… who… want… them. Enough said.

• “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” Again, a simple, verifiable fact, and nothing close to an endorsement.

Now let’s look at the much juicer things-to-love list from Kennedy’s opinion piece:

• “As healthcare providers, community leaders, and policymakers, we have a shared responsibility to protect public health. This includes ensuring that accurate information about vaccine safety and efficacy is disseminated.” Did our HHS Secretary just imply that past information about vaccine safety may not have been accurate? Why, I think he did!

• “It is also our responsibility to provide up-to-date guidance on available therapeutic medications. While there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected, CDC has recently updated their recommendation supporting administration of vitamin A under the supervision of a physician for those with mild, moderate, and severe infection. Studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality.” The Centers for Dastardly Corruption are recommending a vitamin treatment? Might this be a first?

• “Tens of thousands died with, or of, measles annually in 19th Century America. By 1960—before the vaccine’s introduction—improvements in sanitation and nutrition had eliminated 98% of measles deaths.” In case that one slipped by you, the nation’s top public health official just pointed out that the measles vaccine was and is not the game-changing, lifesaving miracle it has historically been made out to be.

• “Good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses. Vitamins A, C, and D, and foods rich in vitamins B12, C, and E should be part of a balanced diet.” Hold the rotary phone! We have the power to increase our own immunity without a jabbidy-jab-jab? You don’t say!

• “The decision to vaccinate is a personal one.” Not a forced one or even one you have to justify. It’s personal—meaning it’s entirely up to the person making it and not a matter of public debate.

Put another way: If someone tasked you to write an essay acknowledging every single positive thing you know to be true about this vaccine before gently giving your real opinion on it without getting yourself unalived by Pharma, what would you have done differently?

I am not saying that Kennedy is going to save us all (fine, I am hoping it and I do sort of believe it—if he’s allowed, at least), but please keep in mind the man is nineteen days into his role at HHS. To all the folks freaking out—I’m talking to you, Ian Carroll, Candace Owens, Ann Vandersteel, Linda Catalina, and one or two kabillion others—I beg you to take a deep breath. For one thing, the left is loving watching “anti-vaxxers rage at RFK” just a little too much. For another, Kennedy’s editorial was literally revolutionary (considering the power Big Pharma wields in Washington—and everywhere else), not to mention a dramatic departure from even the recent past.

Op-ed in USA TODAY by then-CDC director Tom Frieden*

*Do read this brief article if you have time; you’ll recognize lots of histrionics like “the most cases we had seen in the U.S. since we eliminated measles in 2000” and “make sure you and your family are up to date on your measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.” (You noticed that Kennedy did not urge everyone, or even anyone, to rush out and get jabbed? Just checking.)

One man cannot slay a beast the size of Texas in a day. Can you imagine if RFK Jr. had come out guns blazing—in the middle of a measles outbreak—and gone full-boar anxi-vaxxer? The man’s a Kennedy, for crying out loud. He wouldn’t be alive for even another hour to defend himself. The way he stated his case, he got the mockingbird media to plant arguably the first public seeds of vaccine doubt—and they’re not even smart enough to realize it. Even if we didn’t want to believe him, Kennedy has always sworn he’s not anti-vax, he’s anti-mandate. Nothing he said in this op-ed contradicts that. He also wants to hold vaccine manufacturers accountable by removing their liability protections and ensure transparency in vaccine safety data.

Maybe give the guy a minute.

Or HHS Secretary…

I know lots of you are livid over this whole thing, and I also know just as many are taking the same hopeful, glass-half-full stance that I am. Tell me which one you are in the comments. :)