To start: Vaccine critics like Mr. Kennedy often give the impression that scientists haven’t seriously researched whether vaccines might cause autism.
In a Times Opinion analysis, we can demonstrate that researchers have.
To start: Vaccine critics like Mr. Kennedy often give the impression that scientists haven’t seriously researched whether vaccines might cause autism.
In a Times Opinion analysis, we can demonstrate that researchers have.
Have to admit, with RFK Jr, I don’t get it.
He might actually get more things right than he gets wrong but in the case of vaccines, he is so wrong - so willfully ignorant of the facts - that it effectively nullifies all he gets right.
Lol! What does he “get right”? All I’ve ever heard him promote is holistic mumbo-jumbo and gimmick-for-profit remedies…all of which he owns a large stake in selling.
I’d like to know as well. I’ve heard the ding-a-ling go on about seed oils and express support for ivermectin, FFS.
Maybe he is/was against highly processed foods? And then sat down for burgers at Steak N’ Shake? WTAF.
Both the things in their very name are terrible for health, and central to the very problem of health in America and how people have this perception that high intake of dairy and meat are good for them, LOL. The only thing that’d make it worse is if he sat there and washed it down with some alcohol, for Pete’s sake.
It’d be one thing if he was going to find ways to encourage more plant based alternatives, including subsidizing such things so that making the healthy choice is not just something open to people of means. But no, the dumbass is actually encouraging the re-introduction of fucking beef tallow? Good god man. It’s all the worst takes of the manosphere obsessed with “soyboys” and the hot takes of the gym science bros…he’s going to steer people away from some of the very healthiest of paths, and that is plant-based.
My assumption is always, that there is a profit motive behind every one of his “opinions”. That his talking points are all borrowed from lobbying transcripts, used to promote whatever industry is paying him to say it.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s all a fucking grift.
I’m not aware of gimmicks or remedies he has a stake in selling. Could you share with me?
Generally, he’s been promoting healthier lifestyles and heavier regulation over processed foods (in direct contradiction to this administration). He blames our food choices, or lack of choices because corporations are getting away with putting trash in our food, for our declining health. When looking at the rest of the world, there are statistics to back this up. What he gets right is in regard to the things on our grocery store shelves and (on paper) the government’s role in promoting better choices.
Coincidentally, between the time I posted my original comment and now, I watched John Oliver’s segment about MAHA. The one thing he noted, in relation to promoting gimmicks, was his change in stance about health monitors. During the pandemic he was anti-tech because “the government could monitor you” but after being appointed as health secretary he’s saying he wants every American to have a health monitor within four years.
I mean, the dude in charge of America’s health is also drinking unpasteurized milk, swimming in sewage, and eating road kill - not to mention all the other wacky shit he gets wrong. He’s all over the place and I find it fascinating.
Beef tallow is not healthier than oils from plants.
Replacing corn syrup with sugar is like replacing alcohol with nicotine. Still unhealthy.
He’s a patsy for the wellness industry, which dwarfs the pharmaceutical industry by a considerable magnitude.
Beef tallow is generally healthier than oil from some plants. When cooking at high heats, nearly all plant oils will break down and become toxic, making beef tallow a healthier choice. The issue with “seed oils” is that the food being consumed is a greater concern than the type of oil it’s cooked in.
In most cases corn syrup and sugar can be swapped out as effective replacements for each other. Not the case with alcohol and nicotine.
So, as we have illustrated, things have nuance.
Kennedy is correct about many of the issues we are struggling with today but often confuses correlation for causation. In the process, he sometimes offers a solution that is generally good even if it doesn’t directly impact the issue he intends to address.
Which specific things is he correct about? And for the ones that are supposedly correct, what is he doing about them?
So far, I see no real evidence that seed oils have any problem whatsoever. The pearl-clutching over things like high fructose corn syrup - meh. People should avoid soda at least as much as they should avoid alcohol (and meat and dairy).
So far, I’ve seen him talk about “highly processed foods”. Okay, kudos for that. But add in the hysterical takes about seed oils, ivermectin, HCQ, and his anti-vaccine horseshit…well, he can take a flying leap. The amount of damage this guy will do, including killing people, is way too high.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/rfk-jr-medical-conspiracy-theories-1235178091/
He has advocated for removing artificial dyes from food and getting drug commercials off tv. He’s the definition of a broken clock.
(not who you’re replying to) he has the rare good opinion. Like he’s big on healthy eating, exercise, and regulating junk food - all of which are ideas I can totally get behind.
…but even his best ideas are accompanied by pseudoscience reasoning and/or dogshit plans.
Broken clocks and all that.
Yeah, if he wants to do something about junk food and promotes actual healthy eating backed by science ( I suspect his idea of “healthy” differs from the science-based one given his hysteria about something like seed oils and I haven’t really seen him get behind plant-based. In fact, his problematic opinions are likely to hamper the uptake of a truly health diet for most Americans.) and promotes exercise, great, let him do that as a private individual.
It’s not worth the cost he’ll deal to this country medically when it comes to all the other shit he’s doing. Taco and him are ruining the promise of mRNA vaccines right now and they are likely to kill hundreds of thousands with such policies.
Those are some hot takes. I guess the previous administration was promoting sedentary lifestyles and eating nothing but Snickers?
Seriously - the only thing he gets rights are “the feels”. When it comes to solutions he’s crazy and dangerous.
All the “good” ideas this administration has are precedents to authoritarian mandates. They promote healthy eating so they can deny insurance claims etc. if you indicate (or if they suspect) you’re not doing it.
One of the hallmarks of “alternative medicine” has always been to blame the victim when their quack remedies don’t work. It’s why they love to promote diet and exercise as “the key” to a healthy life. It’s easy to find something wrong with anyone’s diet and claim that is why they got cancer.
I can’t think of a single fact or statistic that RFK Jr didn’t get wrong or grossly misrepresent.
He does get a lot of root-level statistics right when tracking health concerns over time.
What he often gets wrong is correlation versus causation and the methods for treating the issue.
Like, if I hypothetically claimed:
The rates of car accidents have increased over the past five years.
And I blamed our decreasing attention span due to social media consumption.
When the statics say that most accidents are caused by people looking at their phone.
I’ve seen some people talk about seed oil ban being a good thing. Funny enough it happens to be the same people that look like they are eating McDonald’s (uses seed oil in their fryers) daily.
The seed oil topic is interesting. This has been mostly debunked but people still swear by it.
A friend of mine who is otherwise very smart has fallen for this and while he does acknowledge that the claims have been debunks he still shrugs it off. Because he has lost weight and maintains a “healthy lifestyle” that correlates with the period in which he stopped consuming seed oil (because a podcast told him to), he has establish a false correlation and goes on to tell people they should do the same. Propaganda and confirmation bias can affect everyone.
Although, there is a kernel (heh) of truth in the seed oil issue. The larger issue is that most of us lack any sense of moderation with anything in our lives. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-behind-seed-oils-health-effects TL;DR: the things made with seed oil are what are bad for you.
Thanks for the informative response homie!
Well see, he is talking about getting the unhealthy shit out of food as an example, but he doesn’t understand how vaccines work and what they do, so how is he going to be able to determine what is good vs what is bad in our food? Sodium and chloride are both deadly and terrible things to ingest, unless you combine them as salt. He doesn’t understand how complex compounds work or what they are, so I have very little faith he is going to do any good.
Add that to the fact he belongs to the party that wants to deregulate, because they like making cheap shit cheaper and shittier. Also, not costing their business buddies money by having to take health and safety of their workers or their neighbours or the planet seriously. Not much left to go on here…
Right. How the heck does he not understand this? How do you invest so much time in these topics, with a seemingly reasonable amount of intellect about some things, and completely ignore all the facts screaming at your face? I mean, maybe that brain worm is doing all the work.
He ran for president in '23 as a Democrat before switching to Independent. A lot of his work has been very much about pushing more government regulation. At the same time, he’s also pushing for the government to not push vaccines on people. So, I don’t think it’s so much about “government regulation” as a binary tent pole for him; which I do give him credit for.
Total wack job.