Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) warned that President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services could “damage” the nation’s health.
“The president has been reelected, and he has to lead a country in a way that will take care of our people and protect people who are vulnerable. Some of his nominees are not the right choices,” Green said during a Monday evening appearance on CNN’s “OutFront.”
Green said his comments weren’t based on public facing interviews but personal experiences with Kennedy in Samoa.
“RFK Jr. has really given me pause about what he might do, he might actually damage the health of our nation terribly if he behaves how he did in Samoa,” he told anchor Erin Burnett.
The Hawaiian governor, who is a doctor, said Kennedy in Samoa promoted “misinformation” and “torpedoed” the vaccination program. Afterward, measles cases increased by 5,000, which totaled 83 deaths, mostly children, Green said.
“When RFK Jr. got to Samoa he went through the Children‘s Defense Fund nonprofit he founded and pushes, he used misinformation to scare all of the people of Samoa away from getting vaccinated. He did not share what happened,” Green stated.
“Torpedoes the vaccination program. Met with the prime minister and the minister of health. I met with the same people. He scared them away from vaccinations, vaccinations dropped for measles, mumps, rubella down to 31 percent in their country,” he continued.
“If you get lower than 90 or 95 percent you get huge outbreaks. So, suddenly, because of the misinformation he was sharing, no one was vaccinated.”
Green urged Democratic and Republican lawmakers to block Kennedy from being confirmed, raising flags about the likelihood of low vaccination rates spiking disease outbreaks in children and others.
The Hill has reached out to Kennedy for comment.
Kennedy said he would not take away vaccines during Trump’s second term if confirmed by the Senate but would encourage people to make “individual assessments” on immunizations, in an interview with NBC News.
“If vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away. People ought to have [a] choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information,” he said.
“So I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them,” Kennedy added.
