唐纳德·特朗普选择疫苗怀疑论者罗伯特·F·肯尼迪二世担任卫生部长
【中美创新时报2024 年 11 月 14 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）当选总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，他将提名反疫苗活动家罗伯特·F·肯尼迪二世领导卫生与公众服务部，让他负责一个庞大的机构，负责监督从药品、疫苗和食品安全到医学研究和社会安全网计划医疗保险和医疗补助等一切事务。美联社对此作了下述报道。
“长期以来，美国人一直被工业食品综合体和制药公司压垮，他们在公共卫生方面进行欺骗、误导和造假，”特朗普在他的 Truth Social 网站上宣布任命的帖子中说。他说，肯尼迪将“让美国再次伟大和健康！”
肯尼迪曾是民主党人，今年以独立人士身份参加总统竞选。在与特朗普达成协议，支持他并承诺在政府卫生政策中发挥作用后，他放弃了竞选。
他和特朗普从此成为了好朋友，肯尼迪经常在特朗普的集会上获得热烈掌声。
周四，Politico 首次报道了这一预期任命。
肯尼迪长期对疫苗持怀疑态度，是一名律师，几十年来，他赢得了一批忠实的追随者，人们钦佩他针对主要农药和制药公司的诉讼。他推动对食品成分进行更严格的监管。
在特朗普的竞选活动中，他努力争取年轻母亲的支持，他的口号是让美国的食品更健康，并承诺效仿欧洲实施的监管。为了向特朗普最初的竞选口号致敬，他将这项努力命名为“让美国再次健康”。
目前尚不清楚这与特朗普放松对包括食品在内的大型行业管制的历史如何相符。例如，特朗普要求减少对肉类行业的检查。
肯尼迪在疫苗问题上的立场也使他在民主党和一些共和党人中成为一个有争议的人物，人们质疑他能否在共和党控制的参议院获得确认。肯尼迪支持有关疫苗安全性的错误信息，包括推动一个完全不可信的理论，即儿童疫苗会导致自闭症。
他还表示，他将建议从饮用水中去除氟化物。添加这种物质被认为可以改善牙齿健康。
卫生与公众服务部在全国拥有 80,000 多名员工。它设有食品和药物管理局、疾病控制和预防中心、医疗保险和医疗补助计划以及国立卫生研究院。
肯尼迪的反疫苗非营利组织儿童健康防御组织目前正在对多家新闻机构提起诉讼，其中包括美联社，指控它们采取行动识别虚假信息（包括有关新冠肺炎和新冠肺炎疫苗的信息）违反了反垄断法。肯尼迪在宣布竞选总统后退出了该组织，但在诉讼中被列为该组织的律师之一。
题图：罗伯特·F·肯尼迪二世 Liam Kennedy/Bloomberg
附原英文报道：
Donald Trump chooses Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vaccine skeptic, as health secretary
By The Associated PressUpdated November 14, 2024
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Liam Kennedy/Bloomberg
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would “Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration.
He and Trump have since become good friends, with Kennedy frequently receiving loud applause at Trump’s rallies.
The expected appointment was first reported by Politico Thursday.
A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy is an attorney who has built a loyal following over several decades of people who admire his lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies. He has pushed for tighter regulations around the ingredients in foods.
With the Trump campaign, he worked to shore up support among young mothers in particular, with his message of making food healthier in the U.S., promising to model regulations imposed in Europe. In a nod to Trump’s original campaign slogan, he named the effort “Make America Healthy Again.”
It remains unclear how that will square with Trump’s history of deregulation of big industries, including food. Trump pushed for fewer inspections of the meat industry, for example.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines has also made him a controversial figure among Democrats and some Republicans, raising question about his ability to get confirmed, even in a GOP-controlled Senate. Kennedy has espoused misinformation around the safety of vaccines, including pushing a totally discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
He also has said he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water. The addition of the material has been cited as leading to improved dental health.
HHS has more than 80,000 employees across the country. It houses the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
