STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.’s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances Arrow

New reporting from the Boston Globe explains how Donald Trump's promise to work with RFK Jr. to establish a "panel of experts" to investigate public health problems and childhood diseases - many of which RFK Jr. holds are caused by vaccines - could backfire on the former president. By aligning himself with RFK Jr., Donald Trump claims ownership of his extreme, dangerous, and unpopular anti-vaccine views. Additionally, their alliance risks alienating voters who aren't eager to relive the disinformation campaign waged by the far right during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, DNC Spokesperson Matt Corridoni released the following statement:

"Donald Trump now owns all of RFK Jr.'s baggage, including his dangerous public health stances that have cost children their lives. We're going to hold Trump's feet to the fire on his embrace of RFK Jr. and these extreme positions. For anyone who had concerns about the first Trump administration being too extreme, RFK Jr. being anywhere near a second Trump term should terrify you."

ICYMI: Boston Globe: Trump-RFK Jr. alliance resurrects debate over COVID restrictions, vaccine skepticism in 2024 campaign

By: Sam Brodey

• In his first appearance with Kennedy in Arizona last month, Trump promised to work with him as president to establish a "panel of top experts" to investigate chronic health problems and childhood diseases - many of which Kennedy has long insisted are caused by vaccines.
• This bargain, however, could easily backfire on Trump, and not only because his alliance with Kennedy tethers him to a broad range of fringe views. Democrats are confident that most voters will reject a Trump campaign infused with Kennedy rhetoric on COVID and vaccines - and, more to the point, will resent having to revisit a pandemic that most would love to leave behind.
• "The sentiment of most voters in Michigan is, we want to move on, we don't want to re-litigate 2020 or COVID-19," said Mallory McMorrow, a Democratic state senator from Michigan, where violent backlash to COVID safety measures sparked a foiled right-wing militia plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
• The prospect of a general election with Kennedy and top Republicans campaigning on vaccine skepticism has public health advocates alarmed. And they are downright frightened that Kennedy could wind up with significant power if Trump wins.
• "The embrace of these two political leaders will just amp up all the antivaccine sentiment … the implicit promise of putting [Kennedy] in a senior position in the administration shows that antivaccination is coming from the fringes into the halls of power," [said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., who specializes in public health]. "This is a perfect storm."
• Since Kennedy endorsed Trump, top Republicans have had to publicly answer for Kennedy's positions on vaccines and the pandemic. Largely, they have defended them.
• When Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Trump's running mate, was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about Kennedy's endorsement, he said he didn't agree with Kennedy on everything. ButVance condemned the COVID-era masking of young children, claiming "we knew it caused developmental disabilities."
• Vance added that if officials had listened to voices like Kennedy, "I think our kids would have been much better off in the wake of the pandemic."
• "When RFK Jr. talks about 'children's health' what he's really talking about are his antivaxx positions, including casting doubt on [measles, mumps, and rubella] and polio vaccines," said Matt Corridoni, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson. "We're going to hold Trump's feet to the fire on his embrace of RFK Jr. and these extreme positions."