Robert F Kennedy Jr, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has “lost his way,” according to scientist Bill Nye.
The 68-year-old engineer and host of the beloved 1990s children’s educational program Bill Nye the Science Guy visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday (November 20), where he questioned RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and plans to remove fluoride from drinking water.
“I think he’s lost his way,” Nye told reporters, per Politico.
The TV host suggested that his dental health is better because the mineral, which is used to strengthen teeth and prevent cavities, was added to drinking water systems in Washington, D.C., where he grew up.
Nye also acknowledged Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance, including his false claims that childhood immunizations are linked to autism.
“His other claims are extraordinary, and I really hope somebody will reconsider his position,” he said.
Trump’s decision to appoint Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services has sparked concern among medical experts, who warn his nomination could prove highly dangerous to the federal government’s public health work and scientific credibility.
Following his nomination, Kennedy described fluoride as an “industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
Really, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named nationwide fluoridation of drinking water as one of the 10 greatest public health interventions of the 20th century, due to the dramatic decrease in cavities since the process began in 1945.
Meanwhile, the American Dental Association has touted studies that prove fluoridation reduces dental decay by at least a quarter in children and adults.
The former independent presidential candidate is also the chairman of the Children’s Health Defense, an organization that has spread the baseless claim that vaccines cause autism.
Kennedy previously sparked backlash at a rally against Covid-19 mandates in January 2022, in which he compared vaccine policies to the actions of an authoritarian state. He suggested that Anne Frank was in a better situation while hiding from the Nazis, comments he’d later say were taken out of context.
Last year, Kennedy spread the baseless conspiracy theory that Covid-19 targets “Caucasians and Black people” while “Ashkenazi Jews and [Chinese people]” are the most immune. He also suggested that the pandemic, which killed more than 1.2 million Americans, was planned.
While Kennedy has said he’s “not going to take away” vaccines, he believed that “people ought to have choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information.”
