Could RFK Jr. have an ally in former Democratic prez contender?

Could President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services have an unlikely ally in the Democratic U.S. Senate?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly thanked Sen. Cory Booker for his “long history of leadership” to reform the nation’s food system.
“For years I have been raising the alarm of the dangers of our current food system. We’re prioritizing corporations feeding us unhealthy products instead of family farmers growing fresh, healthy foods – and we let too many dangerous chemicals flood our food system,” Booker posted to X along with a video calling people to join his movement.
“Food in America is making us sick,” Booker said. “Our food system is designed to support and subsidize ultra-processed junk foods and not the foods that our doctors are telling us we should eat.”
Kennedy, whose nomination to HHS needs consent from the Senate, used the opportunity to thank Booker.
“Thanks Senator @CoryBooker for your long history of leadership on this issue. You have been a champion, particularly against the systematic poisoning of Black and Hispanic Americans with processed and chemically laden foods through the SNAP and school lunch programs. Let’s work together to end this,” Kennedy posted to X.
Kennedy’s nomination has stoked controversy over his anti-vaccine activism. HHS oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research.
Kennedy hails from one of the nation’s most storied political families and is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He first challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination last year. He then ran as an independent but abandoned his bid this summer after striking a deal to endorse Trump in exchange for a promise to serve in a health policy role during a second Trump administration.
He and the president-elect have since become good friends. The two campaigned together extensively during the race’s final stretch, and Trump made clear he intended to give Kennedy a major public health role.
Kennedy has pushed against processed foods and the use of herbicides like Roundup weed killer. He has long criticized the large commercial farms and animal feeding operations that dominate the industry.
But he is perhaps best known for his criticism of childhood vaccines.
Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, he said in a podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism.
In a 2021 podcast he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines that advise when kids should receive routine vaccinations.
“I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, ‘Better not get them vaccinated,’” Kennedy said.
Repeated scientific studies in the U.S. and abroad have found no link between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have been proven safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization credits childhood vaccines with preventing as many as 5 million deaths a year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.