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The FRONTLINE Dispatch

The Rise of RFK Jr., Part 4: From Protest to Power

The FRONTLINE Dispatch

GBH

News

4.51.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

RFK Jr. ascends to the top ranks of government. Raney Aronson-Rath and filmmaker Michael Kirk examine his alliance with President Donald Trump, his rise to Secretary of Health and Human Services, and his efforts to turn his long-held beliefs into federal policy—concluding FRONTLINE’s serialized adaptation of The Rise of RFK Jr.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Did you know that you can watch more than 300 Frontline documentaries for free anytime on our YouTube channel?

0:12.0

All from Frontline's award-winning filmmakers and journalists.

0:16.0

Subscribe today and never miss a new episode.

0:35.7

The Frontline Dispatch is made possible by the Abrams Foundation, committed to excellence in journalism,

0:40.9

and by the Frontline Journalism Fund, with major support from John and Joanne Hegler.

0:50.0

Some of our staff who work on vaccine science or other high-profile topics don't want to present publicly right now and don't want their names on papers.

0:58.4

There's certainly an element of revenge that you can see in his actions as a secretary.

1:03.9

The layoffs are hitting everywhere from the FDA to CDC and National Institutes of Health.

1:09.2

Today on the frontline dispatch, the final installment of the rise of RFK Jr. If you disrupt and dismantle vaccination programs, people will die.

1:16.4

It's just an absolute reality.

1:18.8

We've been listening to Frontline's new documentary and speaking to its director, Michael Kirk.

1:24.3

It's in this episode, Part 4, that Robert Kennedy Jr., a man whose name is basically

1:30.2

synonymous with Democrats, joins up with Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, and finally ascends

1:36.7

to power.

1:37.7

You know, the CDC is an agency that is very troubled, and it's going to require getting rid of some

1:43.6

people over the long term in order

1:46.4

for us to change the institutional culture. I'm Rainey Aronson Roth, editor-in-chief and executive

1:52.4

producer of Frontline, and this is the Frontline Dispatch.

2:12.3

I'm joined once again by Michael Kirk, director of the Rise of RFK Jr. to set the scene for this most recent chapter of Bobby's life. Michael, welcome back.

2:14.3

Thanks. It's great to be here, Rainey. Thank you.

2:18.2

So, Michael, you've made so many films about political figures, and I'd love to know what was different about this one. The richness of the backstory and the way that you

2:23.8

could pull everything you learned early in the film and throughout the film back to the very end of the

...

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