Caroline Kennedy Calls Cousin RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Views Dangerous

(Bloomberg) - US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy described her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s views on vaccinations as "dangerous," the latest public rebuke by a senior member of the storied family against the man Donald Trump has tapped for a key Cabinet post.

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Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on Monday, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy was asked about the skeptical views her cousin, son of the late US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has expressed when it comes to vaccines.

"Bobby Kennedy's views on vaccines are dangerous," she said. "But I don't think that most Americans share them so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

President-elect Trump announced last week that he would nominate RFK Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in his second administration, a decision which sparked concern among many health officials and advocates. Late in the campaign, Trump said Kennedy would "go wild" with health policy in his administration.

Read: Trump Selects Vaccine-Skeptic Kennedy for Health Secretary

RFK Jr. has advocated a number of unorthodox public health views — including many statements that contradict guidance from the mainstream medical community. During the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance, he called Covid shots a "crime against humanity" and compared them to the Nazi Holocaust.

Ambassador Kennedy said Monday that her uncle, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, had spent 50 years "fighting for affordable health care" in the US Senate. "It's something that our whole family is so proud of," she said.

"I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure, and has the greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views," she added.

Caroline Kennedy was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the US ambassador to Australia in 2021, having previously served as the ambassador to Japan during the Obama administration.

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