On Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who serves as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, gave the keynote address at the Children’s Health Defense conference. It was a return to an organization he founded and led for years, having stepped away when he began his run for president in 2023.
The president made clear to those gathered that he was on their side, pointing out that “Let me be clear: You have a strong and steadfast friend in the White House. We’ve accomplished in 19 months things that would have seemed unthinkable two years ago.”.
Kennedy’s Return to Children’s Health Defense
For years, Kennedy served as Children’s Health Defense’s chief legal counsel and helped expand the organization. The group has long pushed doubt about vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, which guards against measles, mumps and rubella.
A judge stopped two moves: shrinking the childhood vaccination schedule and changing a major vaccine advisory board. The administration pushed both changes, yet neither went through. That legal setback did not keep Kennedy from speaking at the conference.
Kennedy used the address to rally the group back together, giving praise to Trump for his efforts to change vaccine guidance. The remarks centered on an executive order from last month, which called for spacing out the MMR vaccine, a step that goes against what medical groups advise.
Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense, called Kennedy “Bobby” and said the group has “gratitude beyond words” to the HHS secretary for “recognizing there are real consequential issues around childhood vaccinations.” The administration also promoted the speech on its social media channels.
The Measles Outbreak Behind the Speech
Measles has hit the United States harder than at any point since 1991, with seven recorded deaths tied to the disease in the last two years alone. That number surpasses the combined total of reported measles deaths from the three decades prior.
This year, Pennsylvania officials have reported four measles-linked deaths. None of the four individuals had been vaccinated, according to the state health department. The first two of those deaths were announced last month, which set off a public argument between Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kennedy.
Thursday, Shapiro went after Kennedy’s appearance on the social media site X, saying Kennedy “chose to spend his time today addressing the premier vaccine-denial conference in America.”.
The HHS secretary, Shapiro argued, should have urged more people to get vaccinated against measles, “yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he pushed a narrative that continues to stoke fear and mistrust.”.
The Associated Press reached out to a representative from the White House for comment on Kennedy’s appearance at the event, but received no response.
The Science Behind the Debate
For many years, researchers have found no connection between vaccines and autism, and that conclusion has wide acceptance across the scientific community. On Thursday, Andrew Wakefield took the stage after Kennedy. He wrote a study tying the MMR vaccine to autism that has since been pulled from publication and widely dismissed.
Critics, including many of the country’s top medical associations, say the administration’s moves risk stoking vaccine hesitancy and sowing confusion among Americans who endured a crisis of trust in their public health agencies following the COVID-19 pandemic. Public confidence in vaccines continues to erode.
The group was addressed by Kennedy, who said: “We have not taken vaccines away from anybody. We have preserved access. But we have started asking the questions that you and millions of American parents have been asking for years.”
The founder of 314 Action, which recruits scientists for public office, said that Kennedy’s choice to address the conference demonstrates “the lack of seriousness he brings to HHS.”.
Naughton added: “With a deadly measles outbreak killing people in Pennsylvania, the best thing Kennedy can do for Americans is step aside.”
The Administration’s Pivot From Food to Vaccines
This year, the White House and HHS seemed to be shifting away from vaccine efforts toward a less contentious focus on healthy food ahead of November’s midterm elections. The Children’s Health Defense conference now marks a pivot back for those two offices.
Over the last year, the administration has pushed policies that critics argue hurt public trust in health. One example is the executive order on MMR spacing. Another is its effort to remake the vaccine advisory board, which a judge blocked.
The judge’s ruling halted the advisory board reshaping. The administration’s pivot back to vaccine policy has landed with measles deaths in Pennsylvania still unresolved.
Shapiro’s criticism of Kennedy’s speech was direct: he wanted the HHS secretary to encourage vaccination, not question it.
The White House has not responded publicly to the criticism. Kennedy’s speech at the conference suggests he is willing to engage with the group’s supporters regardless of the political fallout.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs narrow rules against direct harm, such as forcing companies to disclose safety failures they hid, and is against broad rules that hand the market to the incumbents, and against pauses, slowdowns and federal licensing of AI that would freeze today’s leaders in place and lock out whoever would have challenged them. The same logic applies here: a single administration official speaking at a conference should not become a cause for panic, but neither should the administration be allowed to use it as cover to push policies that ignore settled science and put children at risk.
Kennedy’s speech at Children’s Health Defense, whatever it contained, is one man’s words at one moment. The paper does not take sides on them, but it takes sides on the administration’s broader move to reshape vaccine policy in ways that have already been struck down by a judge. Those attempts to shrink the vaccination schedule and remake the vaccine advisory board were blocked, and the administration should accept that outcome rather than doubling down at a conference pushing doubt about vaccines.
The paper’s position on AI and technology is a light touch so startups are not frozen out, and the same principle applies here: the administration should not be locked into a course that freezes out the settled science of vaccines. What the reader should watch for is whether the administration listens to the judge’s ruling and steps back from these efforts, or whether it keeps pushing forward with policies that critics say risk stoking vaccine hesitancy and sowing confusion among Americans who endured a crisis of trust in their public health agencies following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Facts Box
- Kennedy spoke at the Children’s Health Defense conference on Thursday
- He served as chief legal counsel for the group for years
- The U.S. faces its worst year for measles since 1991
- Seven measles-associated deaths reported in the last two years
- Four measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania this year, none vaccinated
- Executive order on MMR spacing issued last month
- Judge halted the administration’s attempt to reshape the vaccine advisory board
- Midterm elections are scheduled for November
The administration’s pivot back to vaccine policy has landed with measles deaths in Pennsylvania still unresolved. Shapiro’s criticism of Kennedy’s speech was direct: he wanted the HHS secretary to encourage vaccination, not question it.
The White House has not responded publicly to the criticism. Kennedy’s speech at the conference suggests he is willing to engage with the group’s supporters regardless of the political fallout.
See the video the story is built around at PBS.
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