Dem governor quickly walks back statement that he's 'excited' by Trump nominee

A Democratic governor quickly walked back his seeming excitement over Donald Trump's announcement Thursday of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run Health and Human Services.

The former Democrat and environmental lawyer is known for his conspiracy theories about vaccines and other public health programs. He campaigned alongside Trump after ending his presidential campaign as an independent.

The news was met with criticism from many observers and health experts — but Colorado Gov. Jared Polis greeted the news with an enthusiastic post on X.

"I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov," wrote Polis, who has been known for his more libertarian-leaning views than typical Democrats. "He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health."

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"He will face strong special interest opposition on these, but I look forward to partnering with him to truly make America healthy again and I hope that we can finally make progress on these important issues," he continued.

Polis faced immediate blowback from commenters on social media, with many expressing horror that he would back a candidate who has attacked childhood vaccination, wants to remove fluoride from public water supplies, and pushed antisemitic ideas about COVID-19 being biologically targeted to spare Jews.

Polis, who is Jewish, made a follow-up post backpedaling somewhat and asserting he's not against vaccines — but in other ways doubling down on his support for Kennedy.

"Re my thoughts on @RobertKennedyJr, Science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety," wrote Polis. "But if as a country we follow the science we would also be far more concerned about the impact of pesticides on public health, ag policy on nutrition, and the lack of access to prescription drugs due to drug high prices. This is why I am for a major shake-up in institutions like the FDA that have been barriers to lowering drug costs and promoting healthy food choices."

"Lest there by any doubt, I am vaccinated as is my family," wrote Polis. "I will hold any HHS Secretary to the same high standard of protecting and improving public health."