At a campaign stop in Michigan this weekend, Donald Trump was pressed on whether on whether Robert F Kennedy Jr, if tapped to oversee health policy in the event of a Trump win on Tuesday, would influence vaccine policy in the United States. [00:00:16] Trump suggested it's on the table. Take a look. President Trump, you said last night. You would essentially like Robert F Kennedy Jr. Do whatever he wants with healthcare. What? He's going to have a big role in healthcare. HHS we just we just left. In fact, I think he might be here. [00:00:31] He's right here. Right here. - You're comfortable. - With him? He ran HHS with his views on vaccines. President. We'll be talking about a lot. Of things, but he's going to have a big role in health care, a very big role in HHS. Maybe he knows it better than anybody. Some views that I happen to agree with very strongly, and I have for a long time. [00:00:49] For years, you and I were. We'll be seeing it as it. What about his views on vaccine? And maybe a position at HHS. - Will be talking about. - All those things will be talked about. Now, as a reminder, RFK Jr has long spread conspiracies and falsehoods about vaccines [00:01:07] and other public health matters. He has, for example, frequently claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, even though studies have debunked that theory for decades. And that wasn't the only thing that Trump and Kennedy hinted at this weekend [00:01:22] regarding Rfk's potential role. On Saturday, RFK posted on X that on January 20th, the Trump White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water. [00:01:38] Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump want to make America healthy again? [00:01:54] And in that tweet, he also linked to a site that features outlandish health claims, conspiracy theories like HIV, like viruses, are in vaccines and widely debunked medical claims. The push to remove fluoride from water grew during Covid as people adopted more [00:02:15] anti-science and conspiratorial views. Major public health groups including the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the centers for Disease Control and Prevention support the use of fluoridated [00:02:30] water all cite studies that show it reduces tooth decay by 25%. Trump has also said RFK Jr is going to work on health and women's health. Quote, which has many people concerned because of [00:02:45] Rfk's changing stances on abortion. When he was running, he at one point or another advocated for a federal ban at 15 weeks. Limits at fetal viability, no limits, even at full term. And then, when asked what his stance was by the Washington Post in February, [00:03:03] he said, I don't know. You tell me, what should I be doing? You know, I think the abortion thing is a different part of is a different issue. I don't think he'll be working on that directly. I think it's important that he could be working on women's health. We should be concerned by that. [00:03:19] But I think most notably vaccines and fluoride. Those are two things I really don't want. RFK Jr. Shaping the policy in the United States. What do you think? Yeah, I'm concerned about a lot of things. So are some vaccines going to be taken away? [00:03:37] Well, what if we want them? What happened to freedom? Okay. So let's assume that that they're not going to be taken away. But, but then this whole idea that vaccines might cause autism. Well, that's been debunked by every scientific study. [00:03:53] The idea that fluoride in the water causes those things also debunked by every scientific, study. So, look, this is a giant problem with Bobby Kennedy Jr. And I've said it to his face when he was here, which is. So you want us to believe that you are more correct than almost every scientist [00:04:13] that has looked at these issues. It's too big an ask. It's too crazy an ask. And what if you're wrong in 99% of the scientists are correct and we take away a vaccine, or we don't make it mandatory. And a polio outbreak happens, as this has happened throughout the world [00:04:31] and in some places that Kennedy went to and had anti-vaccine conversations in the Pacific Islands. So and I remember the there was a conspiracy theory in Pakistan once about how America was injecting poison into the vaccines, and the West was. [00:04:47] So don't take them. And then a giant polio vaccine, I mean, polio outbreak happened, and then they were begging for the vaccines after that. Well, you know, you can't bring it back in if you've already, [00:05:03] caused that kind of damage. So the idea of ignoring all the scientists and all the doctors when Trump gets back in. Sounds like an absolutely disastrous idea. So if you want to question some of the science, you want to question, hey, [00:05:18] was that outbreak of Covid really natural, or was it gain of function experiments that were happening in Wuhan? Let's have a conversation. Let's be open. Let's have an open debate about it, because I don't want to bury any questions and not platform it, etc. [00:05:34] Not have the discussions. But what the government does has real ramifications on people's lives. So I don't want to go to extremes with no conversation at all. Boom. Trump wins. Kennedy gets in a gets appointed to one of these important roles. [00:05:51] Next thing you know, the fluoride's gone. Some of the vaccines are gone and you can't undo the damage. So look, the only thing, Jordan, that is a little bit mitigating here is that Donald Trump's an enormous liar. So it's possible that after he wins, he just says, hey, Bobby, [00:06:09] I was just messing with you. Get out of here. - I'm not going to give you anything. - Yeah. No one should take Donald Trump at his word. Not somebody I would ever trust to follow through on their end of a deal. I think he sees. Or he did. He did see that RFK was pulling votes from him, and he probably offered him something [00:06:29] that he's under no real obligation. And RFK has no leverage to enforce or used for Trump to follow through. There's a couple of things here, though, that are really concerning. You know, RFK has a decent on some things past. [00:06:45] There are some issues with his environmental stances and policies. There are some things that are red flags about his investments, that kind of stuff. But in general, I think he means well on the environment and some things on health. [00:07:01] Pesticides, you know, should we should look into what some of these big companies like Monsanto or Bayer, some of these companies that have knowingly distributed products that cause cancer or, you know, especially with like roundup, totally fine. And there are people who understand that is bad. [00:07:18] And the government turned a blind eye to that kind of stuff because of corporate influence. And unfortunately for a lot of people, they see that and then continue following these people who rightfully point out this is wrong and then lead them astray. And there has been this huge boom in the wellness sector [00:07:36] of people who started with their, hey, we should get this stuff out of the food, or we should only eat organic food or we shouldn't use pesticides on our food, okay. And then they continue leading them down. And then all of a sudden they're like, yeah, we should get fluoride out of the water. What are we doing here? I just it's for somebody to mislead people. [00:07:53] And unfortunately for so many people to look up to him as a leader on this front is really, really alarming. I don't think he will follow through. And like we when we talked about him last week, I don't think he would survive Senate confirmation because he's such a crank, but just the possibility that he could be interim and maybe have some [00:08:13] bureaucratic power to influence decisions, even if temporarily, is really alarming because I don't trust him to make responsible health decisions. Yeah. Last thing here, I've seen people go down that rabbit hole where they start out with, hey, I'm concerned about the environment, concerned about pesticides. [00:08:30] Super legitimate concerns. Get into GMOs. You go a little bit further down the rabbit hole. And my answer is, guys, balance and facts matter. So if you got something that's that the companies are doing wrong, we're going to join you on that 100%. [00:08:46] Right. But the science has got to back it up. But once they start they realize that the government's been lying or the companies have been lying to them. Then unfortunately people then think, okay, then everything is a lie. So I'm not believing a single scientist or a single doctor ever again. No no no no no, not all scientists and doctors are lying. [00:09:05] In fact, the overwhelming majority of them are telling the truth. The ones to look out for are the scientists paid by those particular companies to put out false reports and have their crooks in government, you know, enforce those things because they're taking campaign contributions. [00:09:22] So if you want to regulate on the wrongdoing, you've come to the right place. But if you say that's why we should never believe scientists and instead believe Bobby Kennedy Jr and only go in that direction? No, that is not the right approach. And finally, Trump, doesn't really care about Senate confirmations. [00:09:40] At the end of his term, he was just saying I don't care. Acting secretary, acting secretary. I'll put whoever I like in there. And I don't give a goddamn about your constitutional requirement about Senate confirmation so he can make somebody acting secretary for four straight years. [00:09:55] But we have no idea what Trump's going to do. Trump doesn't know what he's going to do. It depends on what he thinks is to his advantage the minute before he makes the decision. So we could all be screwed and be headed down this rabbit hole together as a country. Or he might not do that at all. No one knows, but it's a risk I don't want to take. [00:10:12] Thanks for watching The Young Turks really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows [00:10:32] and specials right after they air. 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