Kennedy has pledged to "return our health agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which causes the sound of a raspy voice due to spasms in the vocal cords.

Public health experts, physicians, and scientists responded with fury and disgust to the news that Donald Trump will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy junior is not remotely qualified for the role,” said Dr Peter Lurie, president of the Centre for Science in Public Interest, a public-health watchdog, in a statement, adding that “nominating an anti-vaxxer like Kennedy to HHS is like putting a Flat Earther at the head of NASA .

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife Cheryl Hines arrive before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Here Are the New Members of Trump’s Administration So Far. Kennedy has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. He has also pushed other conspiracy

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In a move guaranteed to alarm many, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal opponent of vaccines and other tenets of mainstream health care, to head the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The choice will roil many public health experts after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism.

The nearly $2 trillion agency administers health-insurance programs for millions of Americans, approves medications and oversees vaccine safety.