RFK Jr pushes for ‘break’ in infectious diseases research

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Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr attended an anti-vaccine conference, saying that he felt as if he had “come home”.

Reiterating his commitment to the goals of the movement, the conspiracy theorist who recently dropped his bid for the Democratic nomination said he would order the National Institutes of Health to take a “break” from researching infectious diseases, such as Covid-19 and measles, according to NBC News. 

He added that he would instead push the agency to study chronic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Mr Kennedy has claimed, without evidence, that both scientists and pharmaceutical companies are ignoring chronic conditions in the hunt for profits. He has argued that this effort includes pushing ineffective and dangerous treatments, and he claims that these include vaccines.

“I’m gonna say to NIH scientists, God bless you all,” Mr Kennedy said, NBC News reported. “Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.”

The conference was organised by the largest anti-vaccine group in the US – Children’s Health Defense. Mr Kennedy joined the group in 2015 and was its chairman and chief litigation counsel until April of this year when he left to pursue his run for president.

In his speech, Mr Kennedy pushed Covid conspiracies, such as what he referred to as the “totalitarian regime” in charge of public health and which he claimed was censoring criticism.

“You have a duty to do research when you’re giving your child a medical intervention,” he told the mothers in the crowd, according to NBC.

He added that he would use the power of the Department of Justice to threaten medical journals to publish retracted studies.

“We’re gonna say we’re fixing to file some racketeering lawsuits if you don’t start telling the truth in your journals,” he told the crowd.