Donald Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services — and the reaction hit fast.
Kennedy is an open conspiracy theorist who, among other things, has shared his belief that vaccines cause autism. He also seeks to remove fluoride from drinking water, and wants to close down the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of drugs and food for the American people.
Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio pointed out that two of the most moderate Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), sit on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions — which would oversee the HHS appointment.
Also Read: RFK Jr. earns millions from conservative and anti-vax companies: disclosure
"Six months from now, Trump will start asking frantically if polio and diphtheria came from China, too," posted Michael Weiss, of The Insider, to X.
Legal analyst Elie Mystal was reading the news from his doctor's office as he waited to get a vaccine.
"Now this… this is a *bad* appointment, worse than all possible others," he said.
When the nurse came in, Mystal said he told her the news.
"She deadpanned: 'Well, I guess I’m about to give you the last two vaccines of your life,'" he posted on X.
"Expect a booming market in tiny headstones and infant funeral clothes," The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson said.
The Bulwark's Sam Stein wrote on X, "The next head of our Department of Health and Human Services has a brain worm."
"Will make for another interesting confirmation process. Mitch McConnell is a polio survivor," Politico reporter Ursula Perano posted.
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group of ex-Republicans, posted a gif of "Polio" coming from behind a tree.