Republicans should reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepares to face Senate confirmation hearings to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Republican senators should find the courage to reject his nomination.

The most obvious reason is Kennedy’s dangerous anti-vaccine positions. His history of promoting such rhetoric directly undermines the mission of the agency responsible for vaccine approvals and public health guidance. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in a scathing editorial, Kennedy has falsely claimed that the measles vaccine causes autism — despite overwhelming evidence debunking this — and even suggested that the polio vaccine caused more deaths than the virus it eradicated.

One hopes that this latter claim will resonate with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who overcame childhood polio. However, we shouldn’t have to cast our hopes on the notion that enough Republicans have personal experiences — or extensive enough memories — to prevent the reemergence of some long-eradicated plague.

Kennedy’s penchant for embracing conspiracy theories threatens to erode trust in public health initiatives and reverse decades of progress in combating preventable diseases.

This brings us to the second disqualifying reason: Kennedy’s lack of judgment raises serious concerns about his decision-making. He has a long history of bizarre and troubling behavior, from keeping a diary of his numerous extramarital affairs, to making outrageous claims, such as alleging that COVID-19 was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Even more bizarrely, he once dumped the carcass of a bear cub in Central Park as a prank.

Such erratic behavior might make him an entertaining dinner guest or podcast pontificator, but it hardly qualifies him to oversee a $1.7 trillion agency tasked with safeguarding Americans’ health.

The third reason — and this one might be the most destructive when it comes to his confirmation — concerns his lifelong history as a progressive Democrat. Despite recent flirtations with conservative populism, Kennedy has long been a left-wing activist whose positions run counter to both the reality-based world and conservative values on a range of issues.

It was not uncommon for his positions to skew into “crank” territory. For example, Kennedy spread conspiratorial claims that George W. Bush and Republicans stole the 2004 election from Democrat John Kerry.

His environmental activism included lobbying for the closure of New York’s Indian Point nuclear plant — a move he proudly took credit for after appearing in the alarmist documentary “Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable,” which speculated about hypothetical 9/11-style attacks on the plant.

Kennedy’s advocacy ultimately succeeded in shutting the nuclear plant down, leading to increased carbon emissions as the state replaced nuclear power with fossil fuels. His efforts ironically undermined the very clean-energy goals that environmentalists ostensibly champion.

On the hot-button issue of abortion, conservatives might balk at the fact that Kennedy has previously said he identifies as “pro-choice” and believes “it is always the woman’s right to choose” — although he has also supported policies he says would “dramatically reduce abortion in this country.”

To be fair, Kennedy isn’t without charm or good ideas — just not enough of them to justify his confirmation. Call it woo-woo if you want, but his concerns about microplastics and ultraprocessed foods ring true to me. At the very least, there should be someone on the inside who is sounding the alarm about these things.

Kennedy’s openness about his struggles with addiction and his willingness to challenge establishment groupthink can also be refreshing. For example, his advocacy for “healing farms,” where recovering addicts can spend extended time in rural settings learning hard work and rebuilding their lives, might be easily mocked, but it offers a creative approach to tackling the opioid crisis.

These insights resonate with me personally, as my wife hosts a podcast called “The Poisoning” that focuses on the scourge of fentanyl. Through her interviews with experts and recovering addicts, I’ve seen how recovery requires time, community support and often a sense of spiritual faith or higher purpose. One success story, for example, involves a former Army Intelligence Officer who uses CrossFit to heal addicts.

In this same vein, Kennedy’s recovery proposals, while unconventional, deserve consideration. But even here, Kennedy’s other ideas — such as his support for legalizing marijuana and psychedelics — strike me as questionable at best. Kennedy's occasional flashes of brilliance cannot outweigh the overwhelming evidence that he is unfit for leadership.

Charm and a handful of good ideas do not compensate for a career marked by conspiracy theories, erratic behavior and a lack of substantive qualifications. Political leaders shouldn’t cavalierly dismiss him, but they also shouldn’t put him in charge of HHS.

This is not a role for an eccentric provocateur; it requires a steady, competent leader who can uphold public health with integrity and trustworthiness. Kennedy is clearly not that person.

Matt K. Lewis is a columnist, podcaster and author of the books “Too Dumb to Fail” and “Filthy Rich Politicians.”

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