Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis remains cautious but “pleased” with President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as director of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist who was included in the 2021 list of 12 people who spread misinformation about vaccines online, was named as Trump’s choice to lead the nation’s top health agency on Thursday.
While some health experts were surprised by Trump’s choice and many Democrats seemed less than happy with the prospect of Kennedy as HHS secretary, Polis said he was “pleased” with the news.
In a post to X, formerly of Twitter, the Democratic governor recalled how Kennedy helped him “defeat the vaccine mandate in Colorado in 2019” – referring to the requirement for vaccines in schools for diseases like polio, which kills or paralyzes millions of adults and children before vaccination. widely available.
Chip Somodevilla; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will nominate @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov,” Polis wrote. “He helped us defeat the vaccine mandate in Colorado in 2019 and will help America get healthy again by shaking up HHS and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).”
“I hope they choose a personal choice about vaccines instead of banning them (which I think is terrible, like an order) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharmacies and (agricultural) company oligopolies to improve our health,” he added.
Polis then shared a selection of quotes from Kennedy, while urging his followers not to “mockery or disapprove.” The quote stated Kennedy’s desire to lower prescription drug costs, eliminate the FDA’s “nutrition department” and “get out of pesticide-intensive agriculture.”
“He will face strong special interest opposition on this, but I look forward to working with him to make America healthy again and hopefully move forward on this important issue,” Polis wrote.
Kennedy responded to the governor’s message: “Thank you, Governor Polis. I look forward to working with you. Let’s Make America Healthy Again.”
Polis’ praise for Kennedy is somewhat curious given that the governor attacked him and his “Make America Healthy Again” slogan less than three months ago, shortly after Kennedy suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed Trump.
“Not sure how returning Measles and returning Polio make people healthier…” Polis wrote in X’s post on August 25.
Newsweek reached for comment to the police office by email on Friday night.
Eric Maruyama, the governor’s spokesman, said in an email to Newsweek Friday night Polis “has not changed his overall view on RFK Jr. or on the Governor before expressing concerns about some of RFK Jr.’s positions.”
“While opposing RFK’s positions on a variety of issues, including vaccines and banning fluoridation, he would love to see action on pesticides and efforts to lower prescription drug costs and if Trump is going to nominate someone like him, then he’s taking soda too. Processed foods, pesticides and heavy metal contamination,” Maruyama wrote.
“But they certainly do not approve of actions that will lead to measles outbreaks and oppose unscientific propaganda that undermines belief in the life-saving effects of vaccines,” he said. “The governor himself was vaccinated last week with the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine.”
Polis, who has received some criticism for implementing a vaccine mandate in his country at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, also insisted that vaccines are not a reason to support Kennedy in an additional X post on Thursday, arguing that vaccinations are important for “public health and safety.”
“Science must remain the cornerstone of our country’s health policy and science-backed decisions to vaccinate improve public health and safety,” Polis wrote. “But if as a country we follow science, we will also be far more concerned about the impact of pesticides on public health, ag policy on nutrition, and lack of access to prescription drugs due to high drug prices.”
“That’s why I’m the main uproar at institutions like the FDA that have been an obstacle to reducing drug costs and promoting healthy food choices,” he said. “Leave a doubt, I am vaccinated like my family. I will hold the Secretary of HHS to the same standard to protect and improve public health.”
