In 2005 RFK Jr. wrote a piece in Salon called Deadly Immunity where he lied about vaccines & accused regulatory agencies (CDC & FDA) of covering up a conspiracy to hide vaccine dangers. This is the bedrock of medical conspiracism he has been profiting off of for decades. 8/
His article was filled with lies & was eventually retracted—but the horse was out of the barn. His writing is the match that lit the “mercury in vaccines” panic-driven fire that is STILL rampant, 20 years later. 9/
RFK Jr founded Children’s Health Defense in 2016, an org that is one of the largest purveyors of anti-science propaganda globally. 2020: CHD created 54% of anti-vaccine social media content & one of two organizations funding majority of anti-vax ads on social media. 10/
RFK Jr & CHD make millions of dollars every year via donations, fundraising, partnerships with other anti-science organizations, & lawsuits. This fuels distribution of more anti-science disinformation & MORE unsubstantiated lawsuits targeting vaccines, food, pesticides. 11/
RFK Jr. accelerated a 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa that sickened thousands & killed 83, mostly kids. RFK urged Prime Minister to halt MMR vaccines. By the end: •3% of Samoa was infected •20% of infants <1 got measles •1 in 150 babies died •91.4% deaths in kids <15. 12/
For scale that would be an outbreak in the US: • 10.2 million infections • 2.2 million infants <1 with measles • 73,500 babies dead • 129,200 total deaths, with 118,088 of them among kids <15. Samoa was his dry run to what he is doing in the US now. 13/
RFK Jr has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany and has referred to public health officials and scientific experts as fascists, including during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. 14/
He minimized COVID’s risks while claiming mRNA vaccines were “experimental gene therapy” and falsely linked them to infertility, miscarriage, and death. 15/
During this year’s measles outbreak in the US, RFK Jr repeatedly minimized the severity of measles, downplayed the importance of the MMR vaccine, & touted unproven & ineffective alternatives like vitamin A supplements, to the point where people were overdosing on vitamin A. 16/
RFK Jr even said that measles deaths were normal when the US hasn’t seen a death due to measles in a decade. Why haven’t we seen measles deaths? Because of vaccines. 17/
RFK Jr is CURRENTLY making millions of dollars by attacking the HPV vaccine in ongoing lawsuits — a vaccine which happens to ALSO prevent multiple types of cancer. He lied about refusing his ongoing legal referral fees, just like he’s lied about everything in his life. 18/