Bernie Sanders: RFK Jr does not just reject vaccines. He rejects science and must step down

Old_Joe

Following are excerpts from a current report in The Guardian:

Kennedy is unfit to be our nation’s leading public health official because he rejects the fundamental principles of modern science

Since taking office, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the health and human services department (HHS), has undermined vaccines at every turn. He has dismissed the entire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel, narrowed access to life-saving Covid-19 vaccines, filled scientific advisory boards with conspiracy theorists and fired the newly appointed CDC director for refusing to rubber-stamp his actions.

But his rejection of vaccines is only part of the problem. Secretary Kennedy is unfit to be our nation’s leading public health official because he rejects the fundamental principles of modern science.

For generations, doctors have agreed that germs – like bacteria or viruses – cause infectious diseases. The germ theory led to a revolution in public health and medicine which, over the years, has saved tens of millions of lives. Yet, incredibly, in the year 2025, we now have a secretary of HHS who has cast doubt and aspersions on the very concept of the germ theory – the very foundation of modern medicine for over a century.

No one disputes that proper sanitation, a nutritious diet and exercise can lead to healthier lives. But no credible scientist or doctor believes that alone makes a person immune from polio, measles, mumps, Covid, HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases. Otherwise healthy people can become sick, hospitalized or even die from these and other terrible diseases.

Sadly, Kennedy’s dangerous rejection of well-established science is behind his wild conspiracy theories and misinformation campaigns. It’s what led to Kennedy’s false assertion that “there is no vaccine that is safe and effective” despite peer-reviewed scientific studies finding that vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives and reduced infant deaths by 40% in the past 50 years.

It’s behind Kennedy’s bogus claim that the polio vaccine “killed many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did”, even though the scientific data has shown that the polio vaccine has saved 1.5 million lives and prevented about 20 million people from becoming paralyzed since 1988.

It undergirds his history of promoting the ridiculous idea that HIV does not cause Aids, despite rigorous studies finding the exact opposite. This type of outrageous HIV/Aids denialism is widely believed to have caused the deaths of at least 330,000 people in South Africa who did not receive the life-saving medicine they needed.

It’s what led him to say that the Covid vaccine was the “deadliest vaccine ever made”, that vaccines cause autism, and that the hepatitis B vaccine doesn’t work and should only be used for “prostitutes” and “promiscuous gay men” – lies that have been thoroughly debunked by scientific data and the medical community.

As a private citizen, Kennedy is entitled to his views, no matter how misguided they may be. If Kennedy would like to swim in water contaminated by raw sewage and fecal matter, as he has done recently in Washington DC’s Rock Creek Park, he is free to do that.

But as our nation’s top health official, Secretary Kennedy’s rejection of science and the actions he has taken as a result of his bizarre ideology is endangering the lives of millions of children in the United States and throughout the world.

Today, Kennedy is making it harder for people to get vaccines. Tomorrow, what will it be? Will he tell doctors they don’t need to wash their hands before surgery? Will he tell hospitals that they don’t need to sterilize their scalpels and other medical equipment?

• The American people need a secretary of HHS who will listen to scientists and doctors, and not conspiracy theorists.

• We need a secretary of HHS who will listen to medical experts who may disagree with him, not fire them summarily.

• Bottom line: we need an HHS secretary who will not engage in a war on science and truth itself.

Secretary Kennedy must step down.

Note: Text emphasis was added.

Mark

No argument here.

Crash

Every aspect of the Orange regime is speeding up the demise of this country. You might think it's deliberate?! Maybe because uncle Vladimir has a mountain of rancid kompromat on our Orange Furher. His aims do not have to be achieved by direct confrontation when he's got an asset in the Oval Office!