Trump embraces RFK Jr.’s views on vaccines, fluoride

In the final days of his campaign, former President Donald Trump continued to embrace some of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s incorrect or controversial views on health, including vaccines and fluoride.

In a Nov. 3 phone interview with NBC News’ Dasha Burns, Trump appeared open to removing fluoride from the nation’s water supply and taking steps to limit vaccines.

When asked if “banning certain vaccines could be on the table,” Trump replied, “Well, I’ll talk to him and I’ll talk to other people and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and he has views strong,” referring to Kennedy.

Similarly, Trump said he had not yet discussed fluoride with Kennedy, but when asked about Kennedy’s announcement that the Trump administration would advise against water fluoridation on Day One, he said, “I think that’s OK.”

Small amounts of fluoride are added to drinking water in much of the US to prevent tooth decay and are accepted as safe and effective by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and expert groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The founder of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that spreads anti-vaccine misinformation, Kennedy was an outspoken opponent of vaccines and water fluoridation for many years. He continued to make false and misleading claims about vaccines – including the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism – during his time the presidential racefirst as a Democrat and later as an Independent.

In August, Kennedy APPROVED Trump for president and has since become part of the candidate the transition team. He is also Partnerships with Trump on the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, much of which focuses on chronic disease. There is no doubt that Americans suffer too much from chronic disease, but as I wrote, Kennedy has a history of blaming such diseases to the wrong exposure, oversimplifying their causes and implausibly claiming that he can end the chronic disease epidemic “overnight”.

With Kennedy and on his own, Trump has done it before REPEATED vaccine lies. In a July phone call with Kennedy that one of Kennedy’s sons posted on social media, Trump incorrectly suggested that childhood vaccine doses are too high and dangerous for children. Exist no evidence that the current vaccination schedule is harmful to children.

In the phone call, which took place before Kennedy’s decision to suspend his campaign and endorse Trump, the former president appeared to be cooperative, telling Kennedy, “I’d like you to do something.” . Since the approval, there has been speculation that Kennedy could take a top health care position in Trump’s administration, much more. consternation of many scientists and experts in public health.

“I’m going to let him run because of his health. I’ll let him run wild with the food. I’m going to let him run wild with medication,” Trump said Kennedy during a rally on October 27 at Madison Square Garden.

“I said he could do it. He could do whatever he wants,” Trump said at an event in Arizona on October 31st. “He wants to look at vaccines. He wants everything. I think it’s great.”

In a video call with campaign members that circulated online, Kennedy said that Trump “promised” “control” of the nation’s public health agencies, citing the Health and Human Services and some of its sub-agencies, the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

The campaign, however, would be don’t confirm Kennedy’s claims — and called discussions about who would serve in the administration “premature.” Anonymous sources said NBC News that Kennedy would get a different kind of position focused on chronic childhood diseases.

In his Nov. 3 interview with Burns, Trump declined to specify Kennedy’s future position.

“I’m not going to talk about it, but he’s going to have an important role in the administration,” Trump said. saidwhen asked if he wanted Kennedy in a Cabinet position — and if he thought Kennedy would make it through Senate confirmation.

In an October 30 interview on CNN, Howard Lutnick, co-chairman of Trump’s transition team and head of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, said Kennedy does not want — and will not get — the job of Health and Human Services secretary.

“Here’s what he wants to do. He said, ‘I want data,'” Lutnick said Kennedy and vaccines. “He wants the data so he can say these things are unsafe.”

Lutnick said he spoke with Kennedy for two and a half hours and continued to recite some of Kennedy’s talking points about vaccines, including the idea that vaccines are responsible for increasing the prevalence of autism over time and that vaccines are unsafe because of a 1986 laws eliminating product liability.

“Why do you think vaccines are safe? There is no more product liability,” Lutnick said. “We all know a lot more people with autism than we did when we were young.”

As I did writtenAutism diagnoses have increased over time, but much of this is related to more awareness and changing definitions of the condition. Study after study has failed to find a link between vaccines and autism.

A 1986 justice he did removed most of the liability from vaccine manufacturers, but this did not change the process for reviewing vaccine safety and effectiveness. At the time, vaccine manufacturers were increasingly being sued for alleged injuries that later turned out not to be due to the vaccines—with large awards threatening the vaccine supply. Recognizing that vaccines are highly beneficial but rarely cause serious side effects such as allergic reactions, the government stepped in and established a alternate compensation system for people with reasonable injury claims.

Lutnick later POSTED on X that he and his wife “trust our doctors” and “vaccinate our children and ourselves” but said “not everyone trusts that kind of advice or the FDA.”

“We would be doing everyone a service if the government complied with Bobby Kennedy’s request to make the full data available,” he added.

However, there is no evidence that there is hidden data showing that vaccines are unsafe.

On an October 31 episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, also spoke negatively about vaccines.

“The moment I really started red-pilling the whole vax thing was, the sickest I’ve been in 15 years by far was when I got the shot,” Vance. said of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Compared to other vaccines, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines AIMING to produce more of the expected temporary side effects such as pain at the injection site, fever and headache – especially in younger people. While this may be unpleasant, it does not mean that vaccines are unsafe.

In the same November 3 interview with Burns, Trump also indicated he might go along with a Kennedy plan to end water fluoridation in the US

“Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but I think it’s fine,” Trump said when asked if he was “on board” with such a plan. “You know, it’s possible.”

The day before, Kennedy did written on X that on Trump’s first day in office, his administration will “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.” The post went on to call fluoride an “industrial waste linked to arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease.” While high amounts of fluoride have been linked to some of these health problems, the relatively low levels of fluoride currently recommended in the US generally have not. In some cases, the evidence is hazy.

Fluoride occurs naturally in some water systems. The CDC recommends that communities adjust fluoride levels in their water to optimal levels to prevent tooth decay, a suggestion support through various expert groups. The CDC website states that there is “strong evidence of the safety and effectiveness of community water fluoridation.” From 2022, around 63% of Americans received fluoridated water.

As we have previously writtenthere is evidence that water fluoridation has had a positive impact on dental health. Most recently, a review study published in the Cochrane Library, found that fluoridation may “make slightly more children free of cavities”, although adding fluoride to toothpaste may have lessened the effects of fluoridating tap water.

Ingesting too much fluoride has some well-accepted harms. CDC and EPA recommendations and regulations try to ensure that people are only exposed to a safe level of fluoride.

High levels of fluoride exposure can lead to bone problems. To prevent these problems, the Environmental Protection Agency requires public water systems to keep fluoride levels below 4 mg per liter. Exposure to fluoride during early life can also lead to dental fluorosis, a condition that usually involves only discoloration of the teeth. To protect against dental fluorosis, the EPA recommends a fluoride limit of 2 mg per liter. The level of fluoride recommended by the CDC to improve dental health is below these limits – at 0.7 mg per liter.

Some studies – many including people exposed to water with very high levels of naturally occurring fluoride – have also indicated that exposure to fluoride during pregnancy may be associated with reduced IQ in children. As I wrote, there is considerable uncertainty as to whether fluoride exposure caused the reduced IQ scores and what level of fluoride exposure might have a harmful effect.

expert differ about how communities should respond to this research on the potential effects of fluoride on the brain. As I said, the CDC and various expert groups continue to recommend water fluoridation at optimal levels. However, some researchers have expressed concerns about the effects of fluoridation on child development.

Based on this body of work on fluoride and children’s brain development, anti-fluoridation groups sued the EPA. In September, a Federal District Court judge pent-up that the EPA must continue to regulate fluoride in drinking water. The judge concluded that fluoridation “poses an unreasonable risk of reducing IQ in children,” based on uncertainty about whether fluoride could affect brain development when added to water at recommended levels of 0.7 mg per liter.

Responses could range from banning fluoride in public drinking water to simply issuing a warning. The EPA has not yet said how it plans to respond.

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