# Could RFK Jr. Really Become HHS Secretary? {Yes, he did} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 30, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451 "2024-10-30T16:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/222 "2025-05-15T17:27:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Plenty of other things that disqualify her long before you get there. Sure but that’s the rotten cherry on top for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/223 "2025-05-16T04:00:09Z")
A shit sundae by any other name is still a shit sundae. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/224 "2025-05-16T15:24:39Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@Loach](#): > > > > Plenty of other things that disqualify her long before you get there. > > Sure but that’s the rotten cherry on top for me. 🙂 Learning about her is the first time I’ve heard the term “functional medicine” which just means woo. She quit her surgical residency before finishing to go full time woo. 20 years ago I would have thought it was all hippies but with Trump’s crush on Bobby Jr it now belongs to the cult. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/225 "2025-05-16T16:07:04Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 20 years ago I would have thought it was all hippies but with Trump’s crush on Bobby Jr it now belongs to the cult. Woo is absolutely a nonpartisan thing. I’ve known plenty of people who’d fit the label “hippie” that were all in on RFK Jr style nonsense. I had a very hippie-like coworker at my current job years ago who came to me sincerely asking how to keep her and her husband safe from a neighbor’s WiFi. I replied that there was no danger, and she said well, just to be **safe** , what can she do. I said I can’t recommend a way to protect her against something that doesn’t exist. She got upset at me for being gullible and believing that these signals are benign. I replied that I’m a professional and I have to go by what my training, knowledge, and experience tell me. She also expressed concerns about flouride in the same conversation. My dad who’s a hard core conservative also falls for woo stuff though. It really doesn’t matter what your politics are. So you know there are undoubtedly people on the political left who hate Trump but have to admit this RFK guy is doing a good job. 😞 ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/226 "2025-05-16T16:56:42Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Learning about her is the first time I’ve heard the term “functional medicine” which just means woo. She quit her surgical residency before finishing to go full time woo. 20 years ago I would have thought it was all hippies but with Trump’s crush on Bobby Jr it now belongs to the cult. I was surprised to learn this, but there has been a surprising overlap between hippies and staunch conservatives when it comes to woo medicine and nutrition for decades now. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say they share similar ideologies, something they often have in common is a distrust of both government and corporations which has led to a convergent evolution of ideas regarding food and medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/227 "2025-05-16T17:02:53Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I was surprised to learn this, but there has been a surprising overlap between hippies and staunch conservatives when it comes to woo medicine and nutrition for decades now. The KKK and the Hippies were both on the same side, politically. Trump has simply restored and taken over the Democratic party of his youth (with a name change). The modern “Democratic” party is still waffling around between deciding whether to fight as the real descendant of the hippies vs RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard (who, to my eye, seem to do it a lot more convincingly) or settle down and become this generation’s The Man. Personally, I’d recommend the latter. Nothing good happens with trying to have two populist parties and I’m not seeing the modern party winning on the crazy vote. Y’all need to accept that you settled down and became boring squares like your Republican parents were. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/228 "2025-05-16T17:16:30Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > The KKK and the Hippies were both on the same side, politically. You’re going to have to break this down for me. I’m going to have to assume you’re talking about the third iteration of the Klan which dates back to the 1950s and 60s. At this time, the Klan was big on fighting against the Civil Rights Movement which is something I don’t remember Hippies being against. How exactly were they politically aligned do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/229 "2025-05-16T17:21:49Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > How exactly were they politically aligned do you think? I take you to imply that such a thing is so crazy that it’s impossible. Tulsi Gabbard is an anti-war, Hare Krishna surfer girl. Steve Miller is a racist who bridles at being prevented from ridding the country of colored people by _the law_ . They are, factually, part of the same team. If that can happen today and all records of the past show it to have been true back in the day, then you can cry, “It don’t make sense!” All day long, from dawn to dusk and Sunday to Saturday, it doesn’t change the record. It’s not for me to explain craziness, merely to observe what is real and accept it. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/230 "2025-05-16T19:28:57Z")
I remember anti-fluoride lawn signs in Portland OR and antivax was not-insignificantly liberal parent phenomenon prior to 2020. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/231 "2025-05-16T22:09:04Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > They are, factually, part of the same team. If that can happen today and all records of the past show it to have been true back in the day, then you can cry, “It don’t make sense!” All day long, from dawn to dusk and Sunday to Saturday, it doesn’t change the record. > > It’s not for me to explain craziness, merely to observe what is real and accept it. Butchering Tolstoy: > All competent governments are the competent the same way. Each crazy government is crazy in its own way. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2025, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/232 "2025-05-17T02:51:22Z")
I heard about that proposal too. Good grief, this isn’t thalidomide (which, BTW, has legitimate medical uses). ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/233 "2025-05-18T02:53:07Z")
[F.D.A. Approves Novavax Covid Vaccine With Stricter New Conditions: The agency narrowed who can get the shot](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/health/fda-novavax-covid-vaccine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IE8.n8af.folIhE_LsBiI&smid=url-share) > [@](#): > > “This is incredibly disappointing,” said Dr. Camille Kotton, an infectious disease physician at Massachusetts General Hospital who cares for immunocompromised patients, and a former adviser to the C.D.C. > > ”I don’t know why they would make this restriction; I don’t know of any indication to make this change,” Dr. Kotton said, adding that many people are still hospitalized and dying as a result of Covid. “This is a dark day in American medicine.” However, the RFK Jr’s team’s wordsmithing may allow for multiple interpretations: > [@](#): > > . . . the approval document is unclear about what qualifies as an underlying condition. . . . > > ”I think we’re left confused about what this means for the consumer,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/234 "2025-05-18T03:09:55Z")
Re my last post, also look at the top of page 10 here: [BLA Approval](https://www.fda.gov/media/186545/download?attachment) I think there are both ethical and practical issues in doing the new double-blind study they are asking for. When, by July 2026, it isn’t done, because it was impossible to do, what then? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/235 "2025-05-23T15:06:54Z")
From the annals of “I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea, but I’m highly skeptical that I’m going to support the proposed solution(s):” [**MAHA Commission Unveils Landmark Report Exposing Root Causes of Childhood Chronic Disease Crisis [HHS website]**](https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/maha-commission-childhood-chronic-disease-root-causes.html) > The Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) today released a groundbreaking assessment identifying key drivers behind the childhood chronic disease crisis. Coming just 98 days after President Trump signed an Executive Order, links to an external website establishing the MAHA Commission and tasking it with delivering a “Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment, links to an external website,” the report exposes a range of contributing factors—including poor diet, accumulation of environmental toxins, insufficient physical activity, chronic stress, and overmedicalization. > Next steps will include supporting gold-standard scientific research and developing a comprehensive strategy. The MAHA commission now has 82 days to produce the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy, based on the findings from today’s assessment. Remember: Ever hear of the [**Free Concert at Altamont (1969)**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altamont_Free_Concert)? The organizers decided to contract security to the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club for about $500 worth of beer. Violence was the result. Scores were injured. At least one died. Property damage was ginormous. It was a disaster. This is an example of the wrong solution to a legitimate problem. Trump identified a few legitimate problems in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 campaigns, but he was the absolutely wrong man, with the absolutely wrong plan, to address those problems. Whatever the question, Trump isn’t the answer. Whatever the problem, Trump isn’t the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/236 "2025-05-23T15:50:48Z")
This feels like the prequel to announcing that the country is going pure Organic Produce, that we all need to start eating more fiber, and our employers will be fined if we can’t each do 50 pushups. Technically, that all probably would be good but… Well a) Freedom, and b) f’in hippies. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/237 "2025-05-23T17:13:51Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > the report exposes a range of contributing factors—including poor diet, accumulation of environmental toxins, insufficient physical activity, chronic stress, and overmedicalization. JFC! Poor diet, lets scrap school lunch programs (and breakfast in some cases). Cut SNAP. Eat roadkill as a substitute. Basically cut any existing Democratic program. Toxins, scrap environmental regulations, burn coal, gut clean energy programs, cut Democratic programs and incentives, even former RINO programs. Physical activity, our fine example of a president subsisting on fast food, diet coke, and having his ass driven everywhere. Chop Title 9 programs. Stress, fire and displace workers/parents with a whim. Overmedication, cite? Vaccines vs illness, death, prevention. Truly bizzaro. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/238 "2025-05-23T21:10:57Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Whatever the question, Trump isn’t the answer. > Whatever the problem, Trump isn’t the solution. Well, that depends if you’re Putin or Xi. Trump is working out nicely for them as he trashes America’s economy, alliances, and standing in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/239 "2025-05-23T21:16:25Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > This feels like the prequel to announcing that the country is going pure Organic Produce, that we all need to start eating more fiber, and our employers will be fined if we can’t each do 50 pushups. I wish. More like banning fluoride, insisting that all milk be unpasteurized, and getting an Executive Order in place to criminalize vaccines. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2025, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/240 "2025-05-24T05:18:21Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > > > Whatever the question, Trump isn’t the answer. > > Whatever the problem, Trump isn’t the solution. > > Well, that depends if you’re Putin or Xi. Trump is working out nicely for them as he trashes America’s economy, alliances, and standing in the world. Not to mention democracy and the rule of law. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/241 "2025-05-26T17:17:26Z")
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