Whopper of the Week: RFK, Jr. says he gets fan mail from scientists and doctors, the letters sent to Congress actually ask for his resignation

THIS WEEK'S WHOPPER: 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he gets fan-Mail from doctors and scientists, the letters Sent to congress Actually ask for his resignation

IN SUMMARY:

Physicians and scientists across the country warned Congress that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was unfit to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services. After his confirmation, major medical societies publicly condemned his decisions as dangerous to the nation’s health. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing in September, Kennedy told Senators that “scientists and doctors are supporting me all over the country.” Senator Ron Wyden responded that he was getting lots of mail which proved otherwise. Kennedy snapped back, “I will tell you what, Senator, I will put my mailbag against your mailbag any day.” Secretary Kennedy has no medical or scientific training. His scientific advisers represent a fringe minority. Kennedy may have a MAHA base, but he does not have the support of the medical community.

WHY IS THIS A WHOPPER?

In January 2025, Defend Public Health organized a letter opposing Kennedy’s nomination with 700 institutional signers and 3,500 individual public-health workers. The Committee to Protect Healthcare submitted a similar letter signed by 22,000 physicians. Seventy-seven Nobel laureates also urged Congress to block his appointment. In contrast, MAHA Action produced only 800 signatures. These letters show that even before Kennedy took office, health professionals were 20 times more likely to publicly oppose him than support him.

Once Kennedy assumed office, opposition grew. In April, senior public-health leaders formed a new independent group to evaluate vaccine data, anticipating political interference. That fear became reality in June, when Kennedy abruptly removed the experts who advise the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine recommendations and replaced them with unqualified allies. Professional societies sounded the alarm. The American Medical Association (AMA) asked Congress to launch an investigation, and the American Academy of Pediatrics boycotted the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting in protest. With Kennedy’s new antivaccine majority, ACIP restricted COVID-19 vaccine access and withdrew support for vaccines using thimerosal. Five major medical societies—representing more than 250,000 professionals—sued Kennedy for arbitrarily undermining a proven, science-based vaccine schedule.

The groups representing doctors who take care of pregnant people and children continued recommending COVID-19 vaccination, defying the new CDC guidance. Health insurers reassured the public they would continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines through 2026 even though federal requirements had been removed.

States have also begun delinking from the CDC due to Kennedy’s abandonment of evidence-based public health guidance. Twenty-six states have passed measures to ensure COVID-19 vaccines remain accessible. Fifteen states and territories are coordinating policy through a Governors Public Health Alliance. Fourteen states representing over 120 million Americans are forging regional health partnerships independent of federal leadership through the West Coast Health Alliance and the Northeast Public Health Cooperative.

In September, just before Kennedy’s Senate testimony, ten former CDC Directors wrote in the New York Times that RFK Jr.’s actions are “unacceptable” and “unlike anything we had ever seen at the agency and unlike anything our country had ever experienced.” Twenty professional medical and scientific organizations called for his resignation, accusing him of “putting lives at risk by disregarding decades of lifesaving science.”

WHY IT MATTERS:

Many in the medical community shared Kennedy’s stated goal of reducing chronic disease. But instead of working with experts, he relies on fringe voices who are critics, not contributors, to scientific research. He has produced no credible evidence supporting his claims that vaccines or food additives cause chronic illness. Real progress on diabetes, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular disease requires collaboration, not confrontation.

Kennedy obscures the lack of scientific support by attacking mainstream medical organizations and claiming they conceal “the truth.” Despite his role in government, he portrays himself as an outsider battling corrupt institutions, while simultaneously weakening them from within.

The consequences are already visible: less access to vaccines, less outbreak information, and less transparency in federal health decision-making. His policies are neither grounded in science nor supported by the medical community. Instead, resistance from medical professionals has intensified. National organizations and state governments warn that Kennedy’s actions are dismantling public-health infrastructure, forcing states to build parallel systems to protect their residents.

States may now be America’s last line of defense against federal public-health collapse.

Contributors to this post are:  Benedicte Callan, PhD., Erica Bersin, BCPA, Aurora Horstkamp, MD, Jackie Goldenberg.