# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/282 "2025-06-11T19:14:37Z")
The one thing I acknowledge a trump is smart at: finding a way to turn a buck. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/283 "2025-06-11T19:38:48Z")
He _thinks_ he’s better at making a buck than he actually does. He’s got a long history of failing businesses. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/284 "2025-06-11T20:13:49Z")
You mistake him having cleaned out the business and stiffed all his creditors for failure. His business went down as designed. He himself got richer. it’s the “smash and grab” school of business. The thief is better off even as the jewelry store has sustained far more damage than necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/285 "2025-06-11T22:13:27Z")
RFK Jr. has announced 8 new members of the Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices (ACIP), the group whose membership he completely purged a few days ago. On the, um, positive side, while I’m not familiar with all of the names, none jump out at me as totally unqualified loons or cranks like David Geier (who’s heading up Junior vaccines-cause-autism study).\* However there are still some doozies, like Robert Malone who’s falsely credited with inventing mRNA vaccines, has opposed Covid-19 mitigation measures and spread disinformation about Covid vaccines. Martin Kulldorff is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, which supported allowing mass Covid-19 infection in the population while supposedly protecting the most vulnerable (this was before Covid vaccines even became available). Vicky Pebsworth is a board member of the virulently antivax organization NVIC, so you just know she’ll be fair in her evaluation of the vaccine schedule. /s \*other new ACIP members haven’t been announced. The worst may be yet to come. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/286 "2025-06-11T22:31:30Z")
Those three sound like totally unqualified loons and/or cranks. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/287 "2025-06-11T22:44:19Z")
Malone has also promoted hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin as Covid treatments. They are ineffective. Another one of Junior’s new ACIP picks is Retsef Levi, who co-authored a widely criticized study claiming to link Covid vaccination to cardiac arrests in younger people. > [@](#): > > The (Israeli EMS) call database used in the study, for instance, did not include vaccination status, COVID-19 status or any underlying comorbidities of the patients. Therefore, there is no way of knowing if the increase of calls was among vaccinated people, or if they had COVID-19 or any other disease that could have caused the cardiac event. The authors identify this as the “main limitation” of the study. > “Those missing data points make any interpretation invalid and any extrapolation irrelevant,” wrote the authors of the [rebuttal manuscript,](https://osf.io/zj4xr/) titled “Should we publish every correlation during the COVID-19 pandemic?” Those and more problems with the study are discussed here. > **[Posts Distort Questionable Study on COVID-19 Vaccination and EMS Calls -...](https://www.factcheck.org/2022/06/scicheck-covid-19-increases-risk-for-heart-disorders-not-vaccines/)** > > Studies have found that COVID-19 increases the risk for heart complications, and that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risks for males and females in all age groups. Social media posts, however, have misinterpreted and publicized a... Watch - in coming days Retsef Levi will be described by RFK Jr. fans on social media as a Top Researcher and Renowned Scientist. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/288 "2025-06-11T22:48:04Z")
Going back to the original three cranks, I wonder how many millions (millions!) more people would have died if we had allowed mass COVID-19 infection. Martin Kulldorff would have been up there with Mao, Stalin, and Hitler with the number of deaths on his hands if we had followed his advice. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/289 "2025-06-12T00:14:45Z")
“Had followed”? You mean “will follow” if these kooks or their ideas are still in charge when the next one hits. Of course the rest of their kooky ideas make that possibility far more likely each and every day than any time since the late 1800s. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/290 "2025-06-13T15:29:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Drink bleach, bathe in it…it’ll cure what ails you. [How’s it work on stains?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5JVcIZ-6V4) ---
**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:** [July 30, 2025, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/291 "2025-07-30T01:16:20Z")
A bad acid trip down the alternative medicine glory hole inspired by RFK Jr. A ‘_festival’_ about extending one’s life goes bad. The list of bad actors is extensive and filled with grift. > **[A Las Vegas Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Attendees Left...](https://www.propublica.org/article/peptide-injections-raadfest-rfk-jr)** > > Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to fight aging and chronic disease. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/292 "2025-07-30T01:34:02Z")
And the guy behind the injections is sure that the peptides weren’t at fault. How does he know? [quote] He said he became convinced the peptides weren’t the cause of the severe reactions after plugging everything he knows about the incident into an artificial intelligence app, which he said gave him a 57-page report that “basically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.” He refused to comment on what the report attributed the illnesses to. [/quote] Meanwhile, two women are in hospitals on respirators. Presumably they’re still hoping to cheat death. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/293 "2025-07-30T02:02:00Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And the guy behind the injections is sure that the peptides weren’t at fault. > > How does he know? I think peptides are in most foods. And they are not always in tiny doses. It’s true that there are a vast number of possible molecules that would qualify as peptides, and you don’t normally get those molecules into you by injection. But they are generally harmless (except, in the case of the RFK Jr type, to your wallet). P.S. Injectable insulin is a peptide. So there are some legitimate injectable peptides. Just not the kind you get at a Vegas alternative medicine event. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/294 "2025-07-30T02:09:17Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > P.S. Injectable insulin is a peptide. And if someone shot me up with insulin without telling me it was insulin, I (and almost any other healthy person) could die of hypoglycemia. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2025, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/295 "2025-07-30T02:30:06Z")
Excess injected insulin is quite reliably fatal to diabetics too. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/296 "2025-07-30T02:42:10Z")
Injected insulin has in fact been [used as a murder weapon](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michael-natalie-cochran-insulin-murder-rcna202685). ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/297 "2025-07-30T03:15:39Z")
I’m the one who mentioned insulin being a peptide. But, actually, I am confident that the kind of peptides this guy is selling are not insulin. That costs too much to make. I looked up his web site. I’m not going to link to it, but it says their peptides are “at or above 99% purity.” I can see a big problem being injected with something that is 1% contaminants. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/298 "2025-07-30T03:17:13Z")
Yeh, unless it’s an inert adjuvant, not good. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/299 "2025-08-27T20:26:52Z")
[https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5471327-autism-epidemic-kennedy-trump/](https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5471327-autism-epidemic-kennedy-trump/) Do we have any bets on what RFK Jr claims as causes for autism? Obviously vaccines are the free square. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/300 "2025-08-27T20:43:33Z")
Insufficient roadkill in the diet of prenatal mothers? Decline of whale meat in the popular diet? Wind power farms producing something something influencing pregnancies? (gotta keep dear leader appeased)? Overuse of sunscreen instead of all-natural bronzer? Brain worms? Cracker Barrel’s new logo? Insufficient coal dust inhaled during early life? CRT? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451/301 "2025-08-27T20:58:48Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > Do we have any bets on what RFK Jr claims as causes for autism? Your article says that he’s blaming environmental factors. From [what](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6041149/) [I’ve](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.821455/full) [read](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_autism), it does seem to be that it’s likely that autism is often (but probably not always) caused by a mix of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure of the mother to something (or various somethings) while pregnant. There appears to be a fairly broad range of chemicals that can be used to cause autism-like effects in rats, so it’s probably not a single molecule. I’d probably be more concerned about makeups than vaccines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-rfk-jr-really-become-hhs-secretary-yes-he-did/1009451.md?page=16)