Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought some Democrats on board with Donald Trump among voters who mistrust medical experts.
The political scion's unconventional views on medical science have raised concerns among experts over his nomination to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services, but Kennedy's beliefs appealed to some voters who mistrust doctors and scientists in the wake of the Covid pandemic, reported the New York Times.
“I see that man as someone who understands what’s happening and who is trying to help,” said 36-year-old Savannah Fisher, of St. Augustine, Florida, who said she turned to alternative treatments for chronic pain after doctors left her feeling dismissed.
Colin O’Banion, a 49-year-old physical therapist from Boulder, Colorado, who grows organic vegetables and shops at farmers markets, never thought he could vote for Trump, but did just that due to the upheaval Kennedy promised to the public health establishment.
“That’s what brought me on board,” said O'Banion, who refused Covid-19 vaccines for his family and listens to alternative health podcasts. “We have a real epidemic going on with metabolic disease, diabetes, obesity. How is it possible we have so much money and the most unhealthy people?”
Nearly eight in 10 Americans trust that scientists act in the public interest, but many Americans no longer have strong relationships with primary care physicians, and Kennedy appeals to many voters who share his grievances about health care and an interest in alternative medicines and natural remedies, the report stated.
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“Our government is just like, ‘Nope,’” said 54-year-old Michelle High, of Austin, Texas, who sought out a naturopath to supplement treatment for colon cancer. “That feels dirty, and that’s where you get all the conspiracy theories — when you feel like they’re lying to you, and gaslighting you, telling you: ‘There’s nothing. Don’t look there.’”
High said she trusts her doctors, but she stopped talking to them about the alternative treatments she sought out, including nutritional changes.
“They just make you feel small,” she said.
Kennedy, a former Democrat and environmental lawyer, has promised to target heavily processed foods, seed oil, corporate agriculture and pharmaceutical companies, and public health officials worry that he could purge scientists from federal agencies and sideline experts.
But many voters who rejected Covid guidelines feel vindicated by Trump's win.
“People across the country are waking up from being told how to think and what to do,” said 59-year-old Cindy James, of New Jersey, “especially about what we put in our bodies, what we breathe, and what’s in our water.”