Washington Post
Unpacking RFK Jr.’s ‘doublespeak’ on vaccines
Early last month, after two Texas children had died of measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. acknowledged that the MMR vaccine prevents the spread of that virus. But later that day, he posted photos of himself with anti-vaccine doctors, calling them "extraordinary healers" and promoting unproven treatments.
In a television interview three days later, Kennedy, the nation's top health official, encouraged vaccination for measles. In the same conversation, he cast doubt on whether one of the children had actually died of measles-related complications.
And in an interview with Phil McGraw at the end of April, Kennedy said of the measles vaccine: "HHS continues to recommend that vaccine. But there are problems with the vaccine."
With the nation in the grip of the deadliest measles outbreak in decades, Kennedy is equivocating with a worried U.S. public, health experts said. His mixed message appeals to vaccine believers and skeptics, muddying public health instructions at a time when clarity is essential.
Elevated from longtime anti-vaccine activist to guardian of the nation's health, Kennedy is trying to appeal to both sides: the public, which largely supports vaccination, and the anti-vaccine hard-liners who helped propel his rise. His "doublespeak," as public health experts and academics who follow the anti-vaccine movement call it, gives him cover with both groups, allowing him to court public opinion while still assuaging his anti-vaccine base.
At least half of adults are uncertain whether to believe false claims about measles, its vaccine and its treatment, according to an April poll by the health-care think tank KFF.
"It's confusing, and maybe that's part of the strategy," said Bruce Gellin, who oversaw HHS's vaccine program in the Bush and Obama administrations. Gellin noted that confusion could lead parents to opt out of vaccination — exactly what health officials don't want in an outbreak.
In a statement about vaccination, HHS said: "Secretary Kennedy's HHS has pledged radical transparency to the American public. This means being honest and straightforward about what we know — and what we don't know — about medical products, including vaccines."
Vaccines go through several stages of clinical trials, are tested on thousands of people, and are monitored after they are rolled out for any adverse events. Medical experts say they are safe, effective and considered one of the best tools for protecting public health.
When asked about the unproven treatments Kennedy had promoted, an HHS spokesperson said Kennedy will be enlisting the scientific community and the department to "activate a scientific process to treat a host of diseases, including measles, with single or multiple existing drugs in combination with vitamins and other modalities." It is unclear what that will entail, but Kennedy has long advocated the use of vitamins and supplements.
Kennedy is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he is expected to face questions on his vaccine policies.
The outbreak in Texas has spread across the state and beyond, including a significant uptick of cases in El Paso. Experts worry the United States this year will record the largest number of cases since measles was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago. A recent study showed that if U.S. vaccination rates continue to decline, the nation could face millions of cases over the next 25 years.
Once an outbreak begins, health officials have only a short time to convince the U.S. public that vaccination is the proven way to save lives, said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition. The MMR vaccine — which protects against measles, mumps and rubella — is safe and effective, public health experts say.
"The public's confused, and local and state health officials on the ground are really having to carry a whole lot of water without having … all that backup that they're used to," Juliano said.
Some vaccine skeptics say they are also frustrated about Kennedy's mixed messaging because he has not gone far enough to condemn immunization. But they are urging followers to stick with him.
After Kennedy's social media post encouraging vaccination, the chief executive of the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded said in a video message posted to X: "What he says does not speak for Children's Health Defense in any way at this point." But, Mary Holland said, "we have to respect the role that he's in."
In an interview, Holland said she didn't believe Kennedy considered his statement sufficient. "I don't think he probably thinks that's the whole story. So we have gone out with additional information," she said.
On the day she posted that message, her group reached out to its subscribers: "HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is breaking down the government-sanctioned roadblocks erected to protect Big Pharma's profits and keep people in the dark about childhood vaccines," her email read.
Another Kennedy ally, Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist who served as Kennedy's communications director during his presidential run, said the secretary "is trying to speak to all sides."
With Kennedy as head of HHS, President Donald Trump has offered more tepid support for vaccination than he did during his first term. HHS has largely silenced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the outbreak. And HHS has appointed a vaccine skeptic to investigate the debunked link between vaccination and autism.
The fact that anti-vaccine activists still count Kennedy as an ally shouldn't be a surprise, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California College of the Law at San Francisco, whose research focuses on public health law and anti-vaccine forces.
"Our health and human services secretary has been anti-vaccine for 20 years and has been the secretary for two months," she said in April. "He's still an anti-vaccine activist."
In response, HHS said, "Secretary Kennedy is not anti-vaccine — he is pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability."
Following the second child's death in Texas, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), leader of the Senate health committee, called on "top health officials" to promote vaccination. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy wrote in an X post that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine."
Hours later in a separate X post, he went on to praise the work of two local doctors who have criticized measles vaccination, and their treatment of measles patients with unproven therapies — budesonide and clarithromycin. Neither has been proved effective as measles treatments and both could have serious side effects, medical experts have said.
The media "don't notice how he de-emphasizes [vaccination] by just burying it in with a bunch of the other stuff about vitamin A, steroids, better diet, etc.," said David Gorski, managing editor of Science-Based Medicine, a website run primarily by physicians that debunks medical misinformation. "It's like they've learned nothing."
Between those two statements, Kennedy drew headlines that portrayed him as a supporter of vaccines, including "Kennedy announces support for measles vaccine amid outbreak" in Politico and "RFK Jr. makes new push for vaccine after 2nd child dies of measles" on Today.com.
After a CBS News interview released a few days later, Kennedy received similar coverage. An initial clip highlighted Kennedy saying he "encourages" vaccination — but left out the context of his saying he was unsure whether the second child's death was due to measles. Kennedy also falsely stated again that vaccines are not properly safety-tested, a claim he has made repeatedly.
In the interview with McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, Kennedy claimed that one of his top three priorities is "making sure the vaccines are safe." He said, erroneously, that the mumps portion and the combination MMR vaccine were never safety-tested. Medical experts said the MMR vaccine has been monitored for decades.
In response to questions about these claims, HHS said Kennedy would institute placebo testing for all "new vaccines," but it did not fully clarify what that would mean. Medical experts say if that form of testing is applied to already approved vaccines, it could be unethical in some cases.
Kennedy also told an audience member he's looking into whether children develop autism after they receive the MMR vaccine — a link that has been thoroughly debunked. More than a dozen studies in peer-reviewed top journals in recent decades have rejected this link.
When Kennedy talks, he "mixes a blend of fact and fiction, and since he is the highest health official in the country, that's dangerous," said Tom Frieden, CDC director under President Barack Obama and president and chief executive of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives. "Health advice is best provided by doctors who are deeply experienced with the facts about vaccines, and anything that undermines trust in measles and other vaccines undermines the health and safety of our kids."
When it comes to news about measles, Kennedy allies have released information to develop a narrative around the illness before others can debunk it.
On April 5, controversial scientist Robert Malone was the first to write that "Another Texas Child Dies a Tragic Death After Recovering from Measles."
According to Malone, medical mismanagement was to blame. In a Substack post to his hundreds of thousands of followers, Malone said he wrote after hearing from a physician he said had knowledge of the child's care.
The press was amplifying the measles outbreak for the "political purposes" of smearing Kennedy, Malone told The Post. Malone previously sued The Post, alleging defamation over the newspaper's reporting on his advocacy against the coronavirus vaccine. The case was dismissed in 2023.
A day after Malone's Substack account, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported the "second measles death" in a "school-aged child who tested positive for measles." The child died of what "doctors described as measles pulmonary failure. The child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions."
Craig Spencer, an associate professor of public health and emergency medicine at Brown University, who monitors the rhetoric of the anti-vaccine movement, said he was struck by Kennedy's post endorsing vaccines as the most effective way to prevent measles' spread. He took note that the phrase came in the third paragraph of a long post. And he said the post on X was edited to add language suggesting the measles outbreak was "flattening," which independent fact-checkers and experts have said is misleading.
Spencer interpreted the message and its revision as an attempt to speak to two audiences.
"If you look at all the replies, it was a mix of basically, 'Look, he says vaccines are really important' and 'Oh, my God, I can't believe you are betraying us,'" Spencer said. "It was fascinating to see how people saw this moment different."
Children's Health Defense, Kennedy's former organization, also has published information about the ongoing measles outbreak. Some of it has highlighted the doctors Kennedy praised. The organization's advocates have argued that measles may not have killed them, suggesting poor medical treatment and other medical conditions might have.
The group, along with others, has sued The Post and other news organizations on antitrust grounds alleging suppression of what it claims is "wholly accurate and legitimate reporting" about vaccine danger.
On CBS News, Kennedy also argued that the second child that Texas health officials said died due to measles succumbed to other medical conditions.
This is all part of the playbook for Kennedy and his allies, said Tara Smith, an epidemiologist who follows anti-vaccine groups.
"It's just something that they have really gotten good at over the years, is a kind of doublespeak," she said.
Caitlin Gilbert, Fenit Nirappil, Rachel Roubein and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.
Word count: 1918
Copyright WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post May 11, 2025
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In a television interview three days later, Kennedy, the nation's top health official, encouraged vaccination for measles. In the same conversation, he cast doubt on whether one of the children had actually died of measles-related complications.
And in an interview with Phil McGraw at the end of April, Kennedy said of the measles vaccine: "HHS continues to recommend that vaccine. But there are problems with the vaccine."
With the nation in the grip of the deadliest measles outbreak in decades, Kennedy is equivocating with a worried U.S. public, health experts said. His mixed message appeals to vaccine believers and skeptics, muddying public health instructions at a time when clarity is essential.
Elevated from longtime anti-vaccine activist to guardian of the nation's health, Kennedy is trying to appeal to both sides: the public, which largely supports vaccination, and the anti-vaccine hard-liners who helped propel his rise. His "doublespeak," as public health experts and academics who follow the anti-vaccine movement call it, gives him cover with both groups, allowing him to court public opinion while still assuaging his anti-vaccine base.
At least half of adults are uncertain whether to believe false claims about measles, its vaccine and its treatment, according to an April poll by the health-care think tank KFF.
"It's confusing, and maybe that's part of the strategy," said Bruce Gellin, who oversaw HHS's vaccine program in the Bush and Obama administrations. Gellin noted that confusion could lead parents to opt out of vaccination — exactly what health officials don't want in an outbreak.
In a statement about vaccination, HHS said: "Secretary Kennedy's HHS has pledged radical transparency to the American public. This means being honest and straightforward about what we know — and what we don't know — about medical products, including vaccines."
Vaccines go through several stages of clinical trials, are tested on thousands of people, and are monitored after they are rolled out for any adverse events. Medical experts say they are safe, effective and considered one of the best tools for protecting public health.
When asked about the unproven treatments Kennedy had promoted, an HHS spokesperson said Kennedy will be enlisting the scientific community and the department to "activate a scientific process to treat a host of diseases, including measles, with single or multiple existing drugs in combination with vitamins and other modalities." It is unclear what that will entail, but Kennedy has long advocated the use of vitamins and supplements.
Kennedy is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, where he is expected to face questions on his vaccine policies.
The outbreak in Texas has spread across the state and beyond, including a significant uptick of cases in El Paso. Experts worry the United States this year will record the largest number of cases since measles was declared eliminated a quarter-century ago. A recent study showed that if U.S. vaccination rates continue to decline, the nation could face millions of cases over the next 25 years.
Once an outbreak begins, health officials have only a short time to convince the U.S. public that vaccination is the proven way to save lives, said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition. The MMR vaccine — which protects against measles, mumps and rubella — is safe and effective, public health experts say.
"The public's confused, and local and state health officials on the ground are really having to carry a whole lot of water without having … all that backup that they're used to," Juliano said.
Some vaccine skeptics say they are also frustrated about Kennedy's mixed messaging because he has not gone far enough to condemn immunization. But they are urging followers to stick with him.
After Kennedy's social media post encouraging vaccination, the chief executive of the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded said in a video message posted to X: "What he says does not speak for Children's Health Defense in any way at this point." But, Mary Holland said, "we have to respect the role that he's in."
In an interview, Holland said she didn't believe Kennedy considered his statement sufficient. "I don't think he probably thinks that's the whole story. So we have gone out with additional information," she said.
On the day she posted that message, her group reached out to its subscribers: "HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is breaking down the government-sanctioned roadblocks erected to protect Big Pharma's profits and keep people in the dark about childhood vaccines," her email read.
Another Kennedy ally, Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist who served as Kennedy's communications director during his presidential run, said the secretary "is trying to speak to all sides."
With Kennedy as head of HHS, President Donald Trump has offered more tepid support for vaccination than he did during his first term. HHS has largely silenced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the outbreak. And HHS has appointed a vaccine skeptic to investigate the debunked link between vaccination and autism.
The fact that anti-vaccine activists still count Kennedy as an ally shouldn't be a surprise, said Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California College of the Law at San Francisco, whose research focuses on public health law and anti-vaccine forces.
"Our health and human services secretary has been anti-vaccine for 20 years and has been the secretary for two months," she said in April. "He's still an anti-vaccine activist."
In response, HHS said, "Secretary Kennedy is not anti-vaccine — he is pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability."
Following the second child's death in Texas, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), leader of the Senate health committee, called on "top health officials" to promote vaccination. Shortly thereafter, Kennedy wrote in an X post that "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine."
Hours later in a separate X post, he went on to praise the work of two local doctors who have criticized measles vaccination, and their treatment of measles patients with unproven therapies — budesonide and clarithromycin. Neither has been proved effective as measles treatments and both could have serious side effects, medical experts have said.
The media "don't notice how he de-emphasizes [vaccination] by just burying it in with a bunch of the other stuff about vitamin A, steroids, better diet, etc.," said David Gorski, managing editor of Science-Based Medicine, a website run primarily by physicians that debunks medical misinformation. "It's like they've learned nothing."
Between those two statements, Kennedy drew headlines that portrayed him as a supporter of vaccines, including "Kennedy announces support for measles vaccine amid outbreak" in Politico and "RFK Jr. makes new push for vaccine after 2nd child dies of measles" on Today.com.
After a CBS News interview released a few days later, Kennedy received similar coverage. An initial clip highlighted Kennedy saying he "encourages" vaccination — but left out the context of his saying he was unsure whether the second child's death was due to measles. Kennedy also falsely stated again that vaccines are not properly safety-tested, a claim he has made repeatedly.
In the interview with McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, Kennedy claimed that one of his top three priorities is "making sure the vaccines are safe." He said, erroneously, that the mumps portion and the combination MMR vaccine were never safety-tested. Medical experts said the MMR vaccine has been monitored for decades.
In response to questions about these claims, HHS said Kennedy would institute placebo testing for all "new vaccines," but it did not fully clarify what that would mean. Medical experts say if that form of testing is applied to already approved vaccines, it could be unethical in some cases.
Kennedy also told an audience member he's looking into whether children develop autism after they receive the MMR vaccine — a link that has been thoroughly debunked. More than a dozen studies in peer-reviewed top journals in recent decades have rejected this link.
When Kennedy talks, he "mixes a blend of fact and fiction, and since he is the highest health official in the country, that's dangerous," said Tom Frieden, CDC director under President Barack Obama and president and chief executive of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives. "Health advice is best provided by doctors who are deeply experienced with the facts about vaccines, and anything that undermines trust in measles and other vaccines undermines the health and safety of our kids."
When it comes to news about measles, Kennedy allies have released information to develop a narrative around the illness before others can debunk it.
On April 5, controversial scientist Robert Malone was the first to write that "Another Texas Child Dies a Tragic Death After Recovering from Measles."
According to Malone, medical mismanagement was to blame. In a Substack post to his hundreds of thousands of followers, Malone said he wrote after hearing from a physician he said had knowledge of the child's care.
The press was amplifying the measles outbreak for the "political purposes" of smearing Kennedy, Malone told The Post. Malone previously sued The Post, alleging defamation over the newspaper's reporting on his advocacy against the coronavirus vaccine. The case was dismissed in 2023.
A day after Malone's Substack account, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported the "second measles death" in a "school-aged child who tested positive for measles." The child died of what "doctors described as measles pulmonary failure. The child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions."
Craig Spencer, an associate professor of public health and emergency medicine at Brown University, who monitors the rhetoric of the anti-vaccine movement, said he was struck by Kennedy's post endorsing vaccines as the most effective way to prevent measles' spread. He took note that the phrase came in the third paragraph of a long post. And he said the post on X was edited to add language suggesting the measles outbreak was "flattening," which independent fact-checkers and experts have said is misleading.
Spencer interpreted the message and its revision as an attempt to speak to two audiences.
"If you look at all the replies, it was a mix of basically, 'Look, he says vaccines are really important' and 'Oh, my God, I can't believe you are betraying us,'" Spencer said. "It was fascinating to see how people saw this moment different."
Children's Health Defense, Kennedy's former organization, also has published information about the ongoing measles outbreak. Some of it has highlighted the doctors Kennedy praised. The organization's advocates have argued that measles may not have killed them, suggesting poor medical treatment and other medical conditions might have.
The group, along with others, has sued The Post and other news organizations on antitrust grounds alleging suppression of what it claims is "wholly accurate and legitimate reporting" about vaccine danger.
On CBS News, Kennedy also argued that the second child that Texas health officials said died due to measles succumbed to other medical conditions.
This is all part of the playbook for Kennedy and his allies, said Tara Smith, an epidemiologist who follows anti-vaccine groups.
"It's just something that they have really gotten good at over the years, is a kind of doublespeak," she said.
Caitlin Gilbert, Fenit Nirappil, Rachel Roubein and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.
Word count: 1918
Copyright WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post May 11, 2025