At his Senate confirmation hearing, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators that his 2019 trip to Samoa ahead of its fatal measles crisis was not related to vaccines—despite connections he made with anti-vaxxers in the country and writings about the visit in which vaccines are repeatedly mentioned.
Kennedy, President Donald Trump‘s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, faced tough questions during his hearing on Wednesday, as his record of supporting anti-vaccine views and causes was scrutinized.
Among the exchanges, senators tied Kennedy’s anti-vaccine commentary to the measles outbreak in Samoa six years ago, in which 83 people died. Vaccination rates for the disease had collapsed in the years preceding the outbreak. Kennedy visited the American territory in June 2019 but denied it was related to vaccines.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
“I went there, [it had] nothing to do with vaccines,” Kennedy said.
“I went there to introduce a medical informatics system, [that] would digitalize records in Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient.
“I never taught or gave any public statement about vaccines.
“You cannot find a single Samoan who will say, ‘I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy.'”
But reporting of his 2019 visit, social media posts, a blog post he wrote in 2021 and a letter he sent to the Samoan prime minister undermine his comments delivered during the confirmation hearing.
Newsweek reached out to a White House media representative via email for comment on Wednesday.
Samoa Measles Outbreak
In 2018, two babies died after receiving a measles vaccine. In 2019, two nurses were sentenced to five years in jail for manslaughter after incorrectly mixing and administering the vaccinations, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The deaths triggered a suspension of MMR vaccinations in Samoa. A report published by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, among others, said the deaths and suspension led to an uptick in anti-vaccine misinformation.
In late 2019, with measles vaccination rates hovering around 30 percent, an outbreak of the disease proved deadly, killing mostly children, according to aid workers.
Kennedy Visits Samoa
Kennedy, founder and former chairman of anti-vaccination nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, wrote in a 2021 blog post that he visited the country two years earlier after an invitation from then-Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. Anti-vaccination activist Edwin Tamasese arranged the visit, with Kennedy’s blog post largely celebrating the dismissal of charges against Tamasese related to the undermining of government messaging on vaccination.
As reported by the Samoa Observer, Tamasese had posted a warning about the side effects of vaccinations on children, writing: “I’ll be here to mop up your mess. Enjoy your killing spree.”
Kennedy claimed that the trip was intended to “discuss with the government the introduction of a medical informatics system that would allow Samoa’s health officials to assess, in real time, the efficacy and safety of every medical intervention or drug on overall health.”
But Kennedy also wrote that the prime minister’s nephew had been diagnosed with autism following a “vaccine-induced fever.” The alleged connection between vaccines and autism, which Kennedy has supported, has been widely debunked. He added that government officials, including the prime minister, wanted to measure health outcomes in the context of what Kennedy called a “national respite from vaccines.”
Kennedy referred to the measles outbreak that led to the Samoan government declaring a state of emergency as “mild.” The New Zealand Red Cross wrote in 2020 that it was mostly children under the age of 5 that were killed in the outbreak. Kennedy hinted that MMR vaccines, introduced in November 2019, led to deaths.
Anti-Vax Influencers
While in Samoa, Kennedy also posed for photos with Australian Samoan anti-vaccine activist Taylor Winterstein. On Instagram, Winterstein posted one of these pictures, and wrote, “I am deeply honored to have been in the presence of a man I believe is, can and will change the course of history,” and included the hashtags “#investigatebeforeyouvaccinate.”
As reported by The Washington Post, Kennedy said the encounter was “serendipitous.”
In 2021, Kennedy told the Samoa Observer how he believed the Samoan prime minister had doubts about the national vaccination program.
“He was in a very difficult position,” Kennedy said.
“He felt he had witnessed what he thought was vaccine injury and yet he was surrounded by people who were telling him it’s not.
“He was trying to be a good leader and make a good decision for his people and it’s very confusing.”
He added that there was “limited” discussion about vaccines during the trip.
‘Defective Vaccine’ Letter to Samoan Prime Minister
In November 2019, in a letter to the Samoan prime minister, Kennedy questioned whether vaccination drives in the country could have led to fatalities, and that it was “critical” to determine whether the outbreak of measles “was caused by inadequate vaccine coverage or alternatively, by a defective vaccine.”
Although Kennedy may have told senators that his visit had nothing to do with vaccines, his association with anti-vaccination campaigners at the time, his central role in an anti-vaccination nonprofit, comments he made to the media and communications he made with the Samoan government leave doubt hanging over that statement.
Elsewhere in the hearing, Kennedy was challenged on his past criticism of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, his opposition to childhood vaccines and the sale of anti-vaccine infant “onesies” on the Children’s Health Defense website.
