How RFK, Jr.’s beliefs echo a troubling ideology

Science Quickly

Scientific American

Science

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2026

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for protecting the health of the American people. But over the past year, it has taken several steps that critics say undermine that very objective. In today’s episode of Science Quickly, we take a close look at the man at the center of those actions—Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—who’s spent several years sowing confusion over vaccines and propping up fringe health theories. His beliefs, some critics say, echo “soft eugenics.” SciAm senior editor Dan Vergano, Ars Technica senior health reporter Beth Mole and historian Robert Johnston join host Kendra Pierre-Louis to unpack RFK, Jr.’s ideology and its repercussions on Americans’ health. Recommended Reading: How a year of RFK, Jr., has changed American science “RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory,” by Beth Mole, in Ars Technica. Published online April 30, 2025 E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Kendra Pierre-Louis, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What I've dedicated my life to is revenge.
0:04.0	A brand new drama based on the best-selling novel.
0:07.0	They think they're better than us.
0:08.0	Who do you think you are?
0:10.0	I'm going to prove to them that they're wrong.
0:12.0	She's punishing me.
0:13.0	You destroyed my family.
0:14.0	I will not rest until I've destroyed yours.
0:17.0	A Woman of Substance on Channel 4 starts tonight at 9.
0:20.0	... A woman of substance on Channel 4 starts tonight at 9.
0:38.1	For Scientific American Science quickly, I'm Kendra Pier Lewis, in for Rachel Feltman.
0:47.1	Last February, Robert of Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
0:53.3	The HHS, which oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
0:54.8	is effectively the nation's public health department. It's responsible for protecting the health of the American people.
1:00.3	And yet, since assuming the role, Secretary Kennedy has often taken actions that have contradicted
1:05.5	best practices in public health. The CDC no longer recommends hepatitis B vaccine for all
1:10.7	newborns, and last August,
1:12.6	the HHS cut funding for 22 MRNA vaccine development projects. The Secretary has proffered up
1:19.1	unproven treatments for measles and muddied the waters on the effectiveness of the measles vaccine
1:24.6	amid one of the largest measles outbreaks in recent memory. When the health secretary hasn't been undermining vaccines,
1:30.3	he has been propping up fringe health theories, such as that seed oils are uniquely unhealthy.
1:35.3	Seed oils, they are associated with all kinds of very, very serious illnesses,
	...

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