RFK Jr. versucht, sich aus der samoanischen Masernepidemie 2019 herauszureden

Excellent article from Snopes. Too bad those who need to read it, dont read or want anything to do with Snopes.

And his wife, Cheryl Hines, was right there with him in Samoa, supporting his anti-vaccine rhetoric. 

Ill always call attention to RFK Jr’s role in the measles outbreak in Samoa. Back then he headed an anti-vaccine non profit called “The Children’s Health Defense” organization, which, in a disturbingly ironic sort of way, contributed to the deaths of dozens of children…

But first,

RFK Jr has made it clear that his goals as health secretary, in exchange for loyalty to Trump of course, will be to acknowledge discredited health “experts” and conspiracy theories, reinforce distrust in the professional medical community, and jeopardize public health by getting on board with the MAGA agenda to cripple the independence of government agencies, especially agencies like the CDC, FDA, the NIH, etc…

RFK Jr. is a disastrous pick for this position in the sense that he’s capable of doing some serious damage to public health.

And this is made all the more evident by his involvement in the measles outbreak in Samoa that claimed the lives of some 83 people.

Before I get into it, make sure to tune into *Behind the Bastards* recent four-part series that examines RFK Jr.’s life and career.

It’s an eye opening look at the guy’s lifelong privilege, and his pattern of bizarre, abusive, perverse and hypocritical behavior.

That being said, In 2019, there was a measles outbreak in Samoa that led to the deaths of 83 people, mostly children. What did Kennedy have to do with this? Well, of course he denies any involvement, but he visited the island a few months prior to the outbreak, and at the time, he led the Children’s Health Defense organization, an anti-vax non profit.

His non profit helped spread misinformation pertaining to vaccines that contributed to a decline in measles vaccinations. During his trip to Samoa, he publicly supported prominent anti-vax voices there and by exploiting the power of his last name, lent legitimacy to those voices who were very effective at stoking vaccine hesitancy.

Now, prior to 2019, measles wasn’t a problem in Samoa, however, in 2018, two infants died after receiving the measles vaccine. The country temporarily placed its vaccination program on hold, and Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense took advantage of the tragedy to raise questions about the safety of the measles vaccine. Consequently the vaccination rate plummeted.

As it turns out however, the deaths of the infants had nothing to do with the measles vaccine, and everything to do with tragic human error. Nurses administering the vaccine accidentally mixed it with a muscle relaxant, which is what killed the infants.

Kennedy and his non profit did not walk back their statements afterwards, particularly as vaccination rates were dropping rapidly in the region.

When he visited the island in 2019—before the outbreak—he promoted anti-vaxxers and anti-vax rhetoric. He especially lent credibility to voices there that were still using the deaths of the infants to push a narrative.

> He had a meeting with Taylor Winterstein, a prominent Samoan Australian vaccination foe. In an Instagram post featuring a photo of her with Kennedy, Winterstein wrote, “I am deeply honoured to have been in the presence of a man I believe is, can and will change the course of history. This was a divinely timed, once in a lifetime opportunity and I will forever cherish the conversations and moments we shared together in Samoa.” She added hashtags used by anti-vaxxers. Public health experts complained Kennedy’s visit to Samoa helped amplifly anti-vax voices.

Kennedy claimed that his meeting with Winterstein was just a coincidence, not “divinely timed.” He eventually admitted however, that his trip to Samoa had been arranged with a popular anti-vaxxer, Edwin Tamasese. The trip was paid for by the CHD.

> The point of the trip, he insisted, was to discuss with government officials “the introduction of a medical informatics system that would allow Samoa’s health officials to assess, in real time, the efficacy and safety of every medical intervention or drug on overall health.” This would include questioning the value of vaccinations.

After the measles outbreak in 2019, the government quickly implemented an emergency vaccination program that was compulsory for the population. Kennedy’s anti-vax connections on the island vehemently opposed this measure. The operation was compared to Nazi Germany.

> Tamasese called it a “killing spree.” He declared the vaccination operation “the greatest crime against our people” and suggested the vaccine itself was the cause of the outbreak. Tamasese advocated against the use of conventional medicine and antibiotics and urged people to rely on papaya leaf extract and vitamins instead of the vaccine and antibiotics.

During this time, Kennedy wrote to the prime Minister, *and he encouraged Samoa officials to examine the measles vaccine to ‘determine, scientifically, if the outbreak was caused by inadequate vaccine coverage or alternatively, by a defective vaccine.’*

Kennedy and these anti-vax voices were pushing the idea that the vaccine itself was responsible for the deaths during the outbreak.

The Samoan government declared a state of emergency, and pushed back against prominent anti-vaxxers.

> Soon after that, Kennedy wrote a blog post for the CHD site that called Tamasese a “medical freedom hero.” He referred to the 2019 blast of measles in Samoa as merely a “mild measles outbreak” and praised Tamasese for having “infuriated the Global Medical Cartel.” He suggested that the vaccine, along with lousy hospital protocols, had caused the deaths.

So yah, he’s a piece of shit. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

While to this day, he continues to deny his involvement and his responsibility in the Samoa tragedy.

Again, this is the guy Trump is appointing as secretary of health. Let that sink in. Imagine this scenario I’ve laid out for you, but on a national scale.

In a better world, this would have disqualified him from working in any government position, let alone director of HHS.

Trump and his allies have already outlined a plan to first eliminate the independence of most government agencies, cleanse these agencies of anyone who is not loyal to the MAGA agenda, then put them under the direct control of the president and an executive with newly granted unilateral powers and broad immunities.

By doing this, they can install loyalists into positions of power once reserved for non-partisan civil servants and educated experts in their respective fields. They’ll target the FDA, the CDC, the EPA, all public health related agencies, and may even try to eliminate them altogether.

Help me here, how do we do the Santorum connection or the Brock yates connection to this. I love out SEOing Google.

Fortunately, the internet is forever.

RFK Jr is a complete MORON