{"id":1047572,"date":"2024-09-03T15:48:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T19:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1047572"},"modified":"2024-09-04T15:50:19","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T19:50:19","slug":"statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/","title":{"rendered":"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"341\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1038290\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png 1500w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=300,100 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=768,256 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?resize=1024,341 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>New reporting from the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2024\/09\/01\/nation\/trump-rfk-jr-alliance\/\"><em>Boston Globe<\/em><\/a><em> explains how Donald Trump\u2019s promise to work with RFK Jr. to establish a \u201cpanel of experts\u201d to investigate public health problems and childhood diseases \u2013 many of which RFK Jr. holds are caused by vaccines \u2014 could backfire on the former president. By aligning himself with RFK Jr., Donald Trump claims ownership of his extreme, dangerous, and unpopular anti-vaccine views. Additionally, their alliance risks alienating voters who aren\u2019t eager to relive the disinformation campaign waged by the far right during the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>In response, DNC Spokesperson Matt Corridoni released the following statement:&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump now owns all of RFK Jr.&#8217;s baggage, including his dangerous public health stances that have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/measles-outbreaks-anti-vaccine-misinformation-rcna136994\">cost children their lives<\/a>. We&#8217;re going to hold Trump&#8217;s feet to the fire on his embrace of RFK Jr. and these extreme positions. For anyone who had concerns about the first Trump administration being too extreme, RFK Jr. being anywhere near a second Trump term should terrify you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ICYMI: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2024\/09\/01\/nation\/trump-rfk-jr-alliance\/\"><strong>Boston Globe<\/strong><\/a><strong>: Trump-RFK Jr. alliance resurrects debate over COVID restrictions, vaccine skepticism in 2024 campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By: Sam Brodey&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In his first appearance with Kennedy in Arizona last month, <strong>Trump promised to work with him as president to establish a \u201cpanel of top experts\u201d to investigate chronic health problems and childhood diseases \u2014 many of which Kennedy has long insisted are caused by vaccines.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>This bargain, however, could easily backfire on Trump, and not only because his alliance with Kennedy tethers him to a broad range of fringe views. Democrats are confident that most voters will reject a Trump campaign infused with Kennedy rhetoric on COVID and vaccines <\/strong>\u2014 and, more to the point, will resent having to revisit a pandemic that most would love to leave behind.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201cThe sentiment of most voters in Michigan is, we want to move on, we don\u2019t want to re-litigate 2020 or COVID-19,\u201d<\/strong> said Mallory McMorrow, a Democratic state senator from Michigan, where violent backlash to COVID safety measures sparked a foiled right-wing militia plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The prospect of a general election with <strong>Kennedy and top Republicans campaigning on vaccine skepticism has public health advocates alarmed. And they are downright frightened<\/strong> that Kennedy could wind up with significant power if Trump wins.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cThe embrace of these two political leaders will just amp up all the antivaccine sentiment \u2026 <strong>the implicit promise of putting [Kennedy] in a senior position in the administration shows that antivaccination is coming from the fringes into the halls of power,\u201d<\/strong> [said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., who specializes in public health]. <strong>\u201cThis is a perfect storm.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Since Kennedy endorsed Trump, <strong>top Republicans have had to publicly answer for Kennedy\u2019s positions on vaccines and the pandemic. Largely, they have defended them<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When Senator JD Vance of Ohio, Trump\u2019s running mate, was asked on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d about Kennedy\u2019s endorsement, he said he didn\u2019t agree with Kennedy on everything. <strong>But<\/strong> <strong>Vance condemned the COVID-era masking of young children, claiming \u201cwe knew it caused developmental disabilities.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Vance added that if officials had listened to voices like Kennedy, \u201cI think our kids would have been much better off in the wake of the pandemic.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cWhen RFK Jr. talks about \u2018children\u2019s health\u2019 what he\u2019s really talking about are his antivaxx positions, including casting doubt on [measles, mumps, and rubella] and polio vaccines,\u201d said Matt Corridoni, a Democratic National Committee spokesperson. \u201cWe\u2019re going to hold Trump\u2019s feet to the fire on his embrace of RFK Jr. and these extreme positions.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New reporting from the Boston Globe explains how Donald Trump\u2019s promise to work with RFK Jr. to establish a \u201cpanel of experts\u201d to investigate public health problems and childhood diseases \u2013 many of which RFK Jr. holds are caused by vaccines \u2014 could backfire on the former president. By aligning himself with RFK Jr., Donald [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":263,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1047572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-03T19:48:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-04T19:50:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Claire DePree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/\",\"name\":\"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances - Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-03T19:48:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-04T19:50:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/\",\"name\":\"Democrats\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564\",\"name\":\"Claire DePree\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Claire DePree\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/depreec\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances - Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_site_name":"Democrats","article_published_time":"2024-09-03T19:48:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-04T19:50:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Claire DePree","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Claire DePree","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/","name":"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances - Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png?w=1024","datePublished":"2024-09-03T19:48:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-04T19:50:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/image.png","width":1500,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/statement-donald-trump-owns-rfk-jr-s-extreme-dangerous-public-health-stances\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"STATEMENT: Donald Trump Owns RFK Jr.\u2019s Extreme, Dangerous Public Health Stances"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/","name":"Democrats","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/c31239f43161314a03057960c56c0564","name":"Claire DePree","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/262c0b3f1914330fe3241c699fd21798ee92a8504fc6296028e8fa17334d1151?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Claire DePree"},"url":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/author\/depreec\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1047572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1047573,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047572\/revisions\/1047573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1047572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1047572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1047572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}