Kennedy has pledged to "return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which causes the sound of a raspy voice due to spasms in the vocal cords.

Public health experts, physicians, and scientists responded with fury and disgust to the news that Donald Trump will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife Cheryl Hines arrive before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Kennedy junior is not remotely qualified for the role,” said Dr Peter Lurie, president of the Centre for Science in Public Interest, a public-health watchdog, in a statement, adding that “nominating an anti-vaxxer like Kennedy to HHS is like putting a Flat Earther at the head of NASA .

President-elect Donald Trump has picked a prominent vaccine skeptic to lead the nation’s sprawling public health apparatus. Robert F.

Plus: Is Trump signaling a retribution agenda with Gaetz, and other picks for his administration? These and mores stories on The Excerpt.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and becoming one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines.

President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Trump’s pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen.