US President-elect Donald Trump says he is "thrilled" to nominate a well known vaccine sceptic to run America's federal health agency, in his latest wave of cabinet appointments.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has been nominated to serve as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a role Trump says will see RFK Jr tackle "America's overwhelming health crisis".
RFK Jr said he's committed to advancing Trump's "vision to Make America Healthy Again" and said the nation has a "generational opportunity" to end the "chronic disease epidemic".
But health experts have already criticised Trump's pick, calling Kennedy "completely unqualified for the job".
Who is RFK Jr?
Robert F Kennedy Jr – known by his initials as RFK Jr – is a former environmental lawyer turned politician.
The 70-year-old is the nephew of Democratic president John F Kennedy, and the son of former attorney-general and aspiring presidential nominee Robert F Kennedy — both were assassinated in the 1960s.
RFK Jr ran as an independent presidential candidate in this year's US election before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican's administration.
In May, a New York Times investigation revealed that during a 2012 deposition, Kennedy said doctors believed a worm "ate a portion" of his brain two-years earlier "and then died".
Hours after the Times article was published, Kennedy wrote on X: "I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate".
"I feel confident in the result even with a six-worm handicap."
What has RFK Jr said about vaccines?
RFK Jr has been criticised for spreading misinformation and making false claims, including that vaccines cause autism.
Multiple certified health organisations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, have found no credible link between vaccines and autism.
During COVID-19, RFK Jr opposed state and federal restrictions imposed during the pandemic and was accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.
Kennedy disputes the anti-vaccine tag, saying he wants more rigorous testing of vaccines instead.
However, he chairs the Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit organisation that focuses on anti-vaccine messaging.
Shares of vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc and Moderna fell after news of Kennedy's appointment and were down in after-hours trading by as much as 2 per cent.
RFK Jr has also promoted conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and Dr Anthony Fauci.
In his 2021 book The Real Anthony Fauci, RFK Jr accused the former White House medical adviser of exaggerating the pandemic, in part, to promote vaccines.
In July, Kennedy was also captured on camera saying COVID-19 targets certain races and gives others immunity.
What are people saying about RFK Jr?
After Trump announced his nomination for health secretary, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on X that RFK Jr "poses a danger to public health, scientific research, medicine, and health care coverage for millions".
"He wants to stop parents from protecting their babies from measles and his ideas would welcome the return of polio," Senator Warren wrote.
"I have a lot of questions for his Senate hearing."
Dr Ashwin Vasan, the former commissioner of New York City's Department of Health, told Reuters that RFK Jr is "completely unqualified for the job".
"Even though we maybe knew some of this was coming or this was coming, I'm still shocked, and I think this really does have potential devastating consequences for the health of Americans."
Another expert told Reuters that Trump's pick appears to be in conflict with the president-elect's priorities of streamlining government and improving efficiency.
"I think that [RFK Jr] is very sceptical of the process, and ultimately could end up slowing a lot of things down," said Biophy CEO Dave Latshaw II, formerly an AI intelligence scientist at Johnson & Johnson.
"If you look at the markets, you can sort of see that the way that everyone has reacted is any companies and any programs that are either longer-term in nature or testing new or risky modalities are the ones that are really at risk."
What might RFK Jr do as health secretary?
RFK Jr is a staunch advocate for tighter regulations about the chemicals put in food and used during farming, which was the focus of Trump's announcement.
"The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country," Trump said on X.
In November, RFK Jr said he would recommend fluoride be removed from public water supplies, falsely claiming on X that the chemical is associated with bone cancer and fractures.
"I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the smothering cloud of corporate capture so they can pursue their mission to make Americans once again the healthiest people on Earth," RFK Jr said on X following his nomination.
Is RFK Jr's nomination confirmed?
Not yet.
RFK Jr will still need to be confirmed by the US Senate — a process all cabinet positions are subjected to.
If that happens, he would oversee the operations of the country's largest health programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.
"Most people don't realise this is not about fluoride in water, or even vaccines, as important as they are," Dr Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 Response coordinator and dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told Reuters.
"The HHS secretary oversees Medicare. He and his appointees will decide what medicines are available to the American people."
On election night, Trump praised RFK Jr as "fantastic" and "hardworking".
"He wants to do some things, and we're gonna let him go do it," Trump said.
"Go have a good time, Bobby."
ABC/wires
