Often accused of spreading misinformation about public health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promising “a new era of radical transparency in government” through a podcast he’s launching next week.
“We’re going to name the names of the forces that obstruct the paths to public health,” Kennedy, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, says in a teaser clip. “This isn’t going to be about politics. It’s about our families. It’s about our children.”
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Kennedy’s agency told The Associated Press he will sit down with doctors, scientists and agency staff on the show, called simply “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast.”
In a teaser video, Kennedy said the podcast will be a new way to expose corruption in government and the public health industry.
“I hope you’ll join us in our mission to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy said.
The MAHA agenda
Kennedy’s tagline at the end of the teaser clip mentions the MAHA movement, a plan from HHS aimed at changing the way the U.S. government addresses food, vaccines and overall health in the states.
Most recently, MAHA took aim at medical schools, announcing that 53 institutions will start requiring doctors to receive 40 hours of nutrition education before graduating.
The focus on nutrition hasn’t stopped there. Earlier this year, the department announced a new set of dietary guidelines intended to promote healthy eating habits and reduce the need for medications and disease diagnoses. The guidelines advocated greater consumption of red meat and claimed to end a “war” on saturated fats. The main theme: “eat real foods.”
Kennedy and the MAHA movement also have been vocal about vaccines, amplifying the debunked theory that childhood vaccines cause autism and questioning the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, which scientists credit with saving millions of lives worldwide.
Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its website to reflect Kennedy’s own skepticism towards vaccines, repeating the claims about links between vaccines and autism.
Kennedy also pushed for changes to vaccine schedules for kids and the COVID-19 vaccine guidelines.
The guidance, which the CDC unveiled back in October, no longer universally recommends the COVID-19 vaccination, even for those at high risk. Instead, doctors and patients are encouraged to make personalized choices based on risks and benefits.
The CDC also updated guidance for children. It stated that toddlers should now receive a separate chickenpox vaccine instead of the combined MMRV vaccine.
MAHA criticisms
While the MAHA movement has fierce support from many Trump supporters, Kennedy has faced backlash in recent months. Some MAHA supporters say he’s not sticking to his own promises.
In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order prioritizing U.S. production of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used weedkiller Roundup, which officials and the scientific community say could cause cancer.
Kennedy had called the herbicide “one of the likely culprits in America’s chronic disease epidemic.” But he changed his tune, backing the president’s order. In a statement to CNBC, he said Trump’s order “puts America first where it matters most — our defense readiness and our food supply.”
The comments drew fierce criticism from MAHA moms, who have long fought to ban the pesticide.
And MAHA moms aren’t the only ones fighting Kennedy’s agenda. Earlier this year, a judge blocked Kennedy and his department from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for all children.
Kennedy had previously announced that the CDC would no longer recommend protections against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A and B, some forms of meningitis or RSV.
What will the podcast actually address?
Kennedy and HHS have not released any episodes of the podcast yet, but administration officials told The Associated Press that it will spread messaging about chronic disease and improving health. New episodes will drop every other week, though officials have not named any of the upcoming guests.
“This is part of our larger strategy to bring the Make America Healthy Again message to as wide an audience as we can,” Liam Nahill, HHS digital director, told the AP.
There’s some speculation that the podcast, and focus on nutrition rather than the more contentious vaccine issue, is an effort to boost support ahead of the midterm elections.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told the AP the show will cover affordability and other topics that polls show are important to voters.
“Americans are united on the need to urgently address chronic disease, improve nutrition, strengthen food quality, and lower health costs,” he said. “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast will cover all those issues.”
