RFK Jr. Tells Anti-Vaccine Activists They Have 'Friend in White House'

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now secretary of health and human services, returned to the podium of Children's Health Defense on Thursday as a triumphant homecoming. He had once chaired the organization, served as its chief legal counsel, and built it into a force in the anti-vaccine movement before stepping back in 2023 to run for president. Now, speaking to hundreds of activists at the group's conference, he delivered a message of vindication: "Let me be clear: You have a strong and steadfast friend in the White House. We've accomplished in 19 months things that would have seemed unthinkable two years ago."

The speech marked a deliberate pivot by the Trump administration back toward vaccine policy after a period of relative quiet on the issue. Kennedy boasted of moves to shrink the childhood vaccination schedule and overhaul the vaccine advisory board that shapes national guidance—steps that have since been blocked by courts. He highlighted an executive order issued last month that would restrict the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine despite opposition from major medical organizations. The Department of Health and Human Services promoted the speech on its social media channels, signaling official endorsement.

The timing collided with a public health crisis. The United States is experiencing its worst measles outbreak since 1991. Seven measles-related deaths have been reported over the past two years—more than the combined total from the three decades prior. In Pennsylvania alone, four people have died from measles this year, and state health officials confirmed that none of the four were vaccinated. When Pennsylvania announced the fourth death last month, Governor Josh Shapiro publicly rebuked Kennedy, saying the HHS secretary should have used his platform to encourage vaccination instead of appearing at what Shapiro called "the premier vaccine-denial conference in America."

Kennedy's response to the outbreak was to reframe the administration's approach. "We have not taken vaccines away from anybody," he told the conference. "We have preserved access. But we have started asking the questions that you and millions of American parents have been asking for years." Mary Holland, the CEO of Children's Health Defense, called Kennedy "Bobby" and expressed the group's "gratitude beyond words" for his recognition of what she termed "real consequential issues around childhood vaccinations."

The appearance underscored how views once relegated to the margins of public discourse have found a seat at the center of federal health policy. Kennedy is a longtime anti-vaccine activist whose work has been foundational to the movement. Medical associations across the country have warned that the administration's moves risk deepening vaccine hesitancy at a moment when public trust in health institutions remains fragile after the COVID-19 pandemic. That confidence continues to decline.

The conference also featured Andrew Wakefield, the author of a now-retracted study that claimed to link the MMR vaccine to autism—a paper that fueled decades of anti-vaccine activism despite being thoroughly discredited. Widespread scientific consensus, supported by decades of research, has firmly established no connection between vaccines and autism. Shaughnessy Naughton, founder of 314 Action, a group that recruits scientists to run for office, called Kennedy's appearance a demonstration of his lack of seriousness in the role. "With a deadly measles outbreak killing people in Pennsylvania, the best thing Kennedy can do for Americans is step aside," Naughton said.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment on Kennedy's appearance at the event. What remains clear is that the administration has chosen to double down on vaccine policy at a moment when measles is spreading and people are dying—a choice that reflects how thoroughly the anti-vaccine movement has reshaped the priorities of federal health leadership.