Tim Scott: Americans aren’t talking about fluoride

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) argued that Americans aren’t talking about fluoride ahead of the election, even as former President Trump and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought it up in recent days.

Scott joined CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, where the host noted that she “definitely did not expect” to be talking about fluoride in water, but the senator introduced legislation in 2018 to support fluoride efforts in underserved communities.

The South Carolina senator laughed and said he “can’t believe” they were having this conversation with days before the election.

“We are 48 hours away from the most consequential election in American history,” Scott said. “Voters in Michigan and Ohio and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Georgia and North Carolina are all talking about crime and unemployment. They’re talking about the border, taking about 70,000 Americans losing their lives to fentanyl. They’re not talking about fluoride."

Kennedy, who ran for president but suspended his bid in August and endorsed Trump, has spread unfounded health-related conspiracies. He posted to X on Saturday to say that if Trump wins the election, the first day in office his administration would “advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.”

Trump expressed tentative support for the idea on Sunday, saying he hasn’t talked to Kennedy about the issue yet, but “it sounds OK to me.”

Low levels of fluoride have been added to drinking water, considered one of the greatest public health achievements over the last 100 years.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by adding minerals back into a person’s mouth that are lost during normal activity.

Kennedy has been a leading promoter of false theories about vaccines being linked to autism. He said last week that Trump promised him “control” of public health agencies if he wins the election. Kennedy has argued that the 13 separate agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services, including the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Health, are in desperate need of reform.

Scott brushed off the conversation about fluoride and said he “can’t” with Kennedy.

“I will stay in my lane,” he said, later adding that he will “stay focused on trying to make my closing argument” in the election.