From Ars Technica · · 1m 30s
RFK Jr. headlines an anti-vaccine conference
The health secretary who swore he was pro-vaccine is keynoting the movement he helped build.
In brief
The health secretary who swore he was pro-vaccine is keynoting the movement he helped build. Kennedy is done pretending distance from the anti-vaccine movement, and he now runs federal health policy. Originally reported by Ars Technica.
The health secretary keynotes
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will give the keynote at an anti-vaccine conference in Washington, DC this week. The host is Children's Health Defense, the group he used to lead.
Wakefield shares the stage
Also speaking: Andrew Wakefield, who lost his medical license over a fraudulent, retracted study tying the MMR vaccine to autism. A medical board found he mistreated vulnerable children.
A lie with a long life
Wakefield stayed a hero in anti-vaccine circles long after medicine cast him out, and CHD and Kennedy spent years amplifying the autism claim he invented.
“a tireless advocate for parental choice”
Senators on the agenda
Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul are billed alongside MAHA Institute president Mark Gorton, an Epoch Times senior editor, and CHD CEO Mary Holland.
Sold out at $250
In-person tickets are gone. Overflow seating runs $125 and a livestream pass costs $100, for an event pitched as a "pursuit of a more perfect future."
The mask comes off
Kennedy cut ties with CHD before becoming health secretary and told his confirmation hearing he was pro-vaccine. Headlining this event follows reports that Trump pushed him to press the autism claim harder.
“pro-vaccine”
The takeaway
Kennedy is done pretending distance from the anti-vaccine movement, and he now runs federal health policy.
