Dem Gov. Praises RFK Jr. Pick After Warning He’d Bring Back Polio, Measles

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who previously criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for backing policies that could bring back deadly diseases, took to social media Thursday to laud Donald Trump‘s decision to name Kennedy as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Democratic governor said he was “excited” by Trump’s nomination, despite Polis touting the day before the creation of the Governors Safeguarding Democracy organization as a playbook for other governors to push back against Trump’s right-wing administration.

“[RFK Jr.] helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” Polis continued in his X post. Although Polis said he hopes Kennedy “leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans,” the vaccine conspiracist has strongly advocated for a vaccine ban through his anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense. 

Polis’ praise arrives just a few months after he ridiculed Kennedy and suggested his vaccine skepticism could lead to “bringing back Measles and bringing back Polio.”

In his X post shared on Thursday, the Colorado governor added that what he was “most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health.” Appearing to acknowledge that many Americans are skeptical due to Kennedy’s long history of spreading a myriad of conspiracies, Polis added, “Before you mock him or disagree, I want to share with you some quotes that if he follows through show why I’m excited.”

Polis proceeded to outline the rationale behind his public giddiness, including Kennedy’s support for lowering the cost of prescription drugs, eliminating the Food and Drug Administration’s nutrition department, and eliminating “pesticide-intensive” agriculture.

“He will face strong special interest opposition on these, but I look forward to partnering with him to truly make America healthy again,” Polis concluded. “I hope that we can finally make progress on these important issues.”
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On Thursday evening, the Governor’s Office issued a statement clarifying his earlier post. “Governor Polis has not changed his view as a whole on RFK Jr. or on the Governor’s previously stated concerns regarding some of RFK Jr’s positions,” read the statement. His office emphasized that the governor “definitely does not endorse actions that would lead to measles outbreaks and opposes unscientific propaganda that undermines confidence in the lifesaving impact of vaccines,” adding that Polis “himself was vaccinated last week with the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine.”

Kennedy, once a noted environmental lawyer, drew backlash as one of the most prominent peddlers of the false claim that vaccines are the root cause of Autism Spectrum Disorders. He has also falsely suggested that vaccine research is responsible for the creation of diseases like AIDS, the Spanish Flu, and Lyme disease. 

Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that Kennedy said a doctor once suspected a worm ate part of his brain. His statement was part of a 2012 deposition related to divorce proceedings against his second wife, and detailed a list of health concerns Kennedy claimed would diminish his future earnings potential.

Following the suspension of his bizarre 2024 presidential campaign, Kennedy reportedly reached out to both Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump to discuss potentially working for either administration. After Harris and her advisers left the third-party candidate on read, Kennedy threw his weight behind Trump and began to appear alongside the president-elect throughout his campaign.
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Kennedy’s siblings slammed his decision to endorse Trump at the time. “We believe in Harris and Walz,” they wrote in a statement. “Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

This article was updated on Nov. 14 at 11:16 p.m. ET to include a statement from the Office of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.