I will state this straight out–I believe the anti vaccine movement has put good people at risk for decades with their rhetoric. And I also believe Mr. Kennedy has contributed a great deal to this climate of hate. How much or how directly he may have influenced the gunman who opened fire at the CDC recently, I cannot say. But I can say that I believe Mr. Kennedy, who has used terms like “corrupt”, “criminal” and “poison children” when discussing a CDC researcher, should apologize for his language. It isn’t a matter of whether the language directly contributed to the shooting. He never should have made many of the comments that were a mainstay of his speeches over the years.
Let’s consider one specific event. Ten years ago Robert Kennedy attended an anti vaccine event called the CDCTruth rally. The rally was held in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the CDC. Mr. Kennedy singled out a researcher at CDC, calling them them “corrupt”, a “criminal”, “guilty of research fraud”, who injured people and suggested they “poison[ed] children”. Read his statement for yourself:
I’m going to say one last thing to you. [CDC-Researcher], who runs the division, the vaccine division, and who orchestrated this corruption; [they are] a criminal and he committed scientific research fraud and [they are] guilty of injuring all of these people. Now I’m saying that and I’m using [their] name*; and what I’m saying, if it’s untrue is an act of slander, and I want [them] to sue me. And if [they] didn’t do it, [they] ought to sue me. [They] ought to file a suit this afternoon and enjoin me from ever saying that again. If somebody said that about me, I would sue them immediately and I’m saying to you, [CDC-Researcher], if you didn’t poison the children, you need to sue me right now and shut me up because what I’m saying to you is damaging to your career. So let’s see what [they do] on Monday. Thank you all very much.”
That was ten years ago, why bring this up now? Because, as I noted above, a gunman killed a police officer in what was an apparent attempt to commit mass murder at the CDC recently (1 week after deadly shooting at CDC, some employees feel Trump and RFK Jr. have moved on). The attack appears to have been a motivated by the CDC’s actions with vaccines (Shooter attacked CDC headquarters to protest COVID-19 vaccines, authorities say).
When Mr. Kennedy spoke, it wasn’t about the COVID-19 vaccines. The pandemic hadn’t occurred yet. It was about the MMR vaccine. But, I will argue, it contributed to the climate of hatred towards vaccine researchers that persists to this day among his supporters. While I can’t say Mr. Kennedy’s words directly influenced the murderer, he never should have said them. They were irresponsible then and they should be retracted now.
We should address a few points as long as this topic has come up. First, as Medpage Today reports:
“There is no evidence that vaccination causes depression and suicidality,” Roy Perlis, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told MedPage Today.
So, for those who have framed this as, “look at what vaccines did”: stop. You are setting the stage for the next attack.
Also, from the same article, “One study found that those with depression were more likely to endorse COVID vaccine falsehoods”.
Mr. Kennedy’s supporters can try to excuse his comments as, “reasonable people wouldn’t use words like these to justify violence.” Not everyone is reasonable. And you can’t just send out hateful words to reasonable people.
By Matt Carey
I suspect Mr. Kennedy will make moves that will dramatically reduce access to the MMR vaccine. Sooner rather than later. It will be a big mistake. That’s one of the big understatements ever made on this blog.
That said, here’s something to consider as an appendix to the article above. Mr. Kennedy made statements that, in his own words, are slander if not true. He was talking about the MMR vaccine which in his statements “poison[s] children”. Begs the question: why is it still approved? It is safe and effective and doesn’t cause autism. But why hasn’t Mr. Kennedy stopped its use?
Mr. Kennedy has been in charge of HHS–which ultimately has control over whether the MMR vaccine is approved for use–for six months. While he has done a lot to dismantle America’s vaccine program, and has moved very quickly, the MMR vaccine is still approved for use with American infants. Given Mr. Kennedy’s 2015 statements, one must ask why he didn’t immediately pull approval. Did Mr. Kennedy actually believe his rhetoric back in 2015 or was it indeed slander? Or, did he believe it then but doesn’t now? Is he moving slowly to keep his position of power? Wouldn’t that action, if the MMR vaccine were indeed poison (again, it is not), amount to sacrificing the kids getting the vaccine today for some “greater good”?
I have a hard time aligning Mr. Kennedy’s actions with his views.
* I redacted the researcher’s name and gender. Should be obvious that I think Mr. Kennedy put that researcher in danger and that I want don’t want to contribute to that effort.
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