RFK. Jr says ‘I am not a doctor and people shouldn’t be taking medical advice from me’
Dodging a direct response on a topic that has both earned him support and drawn fierce criticism, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declined to clearly answer Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin during a House committee hearing when asked whether he would vaccinate a child for measles.
The topic in question? Vaccinations.
Pocan asked directly, “If you had a child today, would you vaccinate that child for measles?”
“Probably for measles,” Kennedy replied initially, before immediately retreating. “What I would say is my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant.”
“I don’t want to seem like I am being evasive but I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me,” he continued, repeating that stance when Pocan followed up again.
Kennedy has long been known for his controversial views on vaccines, including repeatedly questioning their effectiveness and pushing widely debunked theories connecting vaccines to autism.
Just weeks ago, Kennedy suggested that measles vaccines are “leaky” because their protection weakens over time — a claim that public health experts have firmly rejected.
“That’s kind of your jurisdiction because CDC does give advice,” Pocan pointed out. Kennedy responded, “What we’re trying to do is to lay out the pros and cons, the risks and benefits accurately as we understand them, with replicable studies.”
When Pocan later asked if he would vaccinate for chickenpox and polio, Kennedy again refused to commit, saying he didn’t want to offer medical advice.
Kennedy made waves back in December when it emerged that his associate, Aaron Siri, had filed a 2022 petition on behalf of an activist organization asking the FDA to suspend or revoke approval of a polio vaccine for kids. Despite this, Kennedy told lawmakers he supported the polio vaccine, stating he was “all for” it.
His current role and past actions haven’t always aligned. During his Senate confirmation hearing on January 29, when asked whether his own children were vaccinated, Kennedy gave a clear response: “All of my kids are vaccinated.”
