Trump repeats support of polio vaccine, as RFK Jr., allies come under fire
WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump expressed support for the polio vaccine, as his pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and allies have continued their overall vaccine scrutiny and skepticism.
Kennedy, a former presidential candidate turned Trump backer, has come under fire for his anti-vaccine positions and spread of misleading or false information, including refuted claims linking vaccines and autism diagnoses.
And a lawyer connected with Kennedy, Aaron Siri, filed a petition in 2022 calling for the government to limit or withdraw approval for the polio vaccines, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has credited with eliminating what was "once one of the most feared diseases in the United States." The New York Times first reported Friday on the petition by Siri, who has been advising Kennedy on health official selections for the next Trump administration.
This week, Trump told reporters he is "a big believer" in the polio vaccine.
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"I think everything should be looked at, but I'm a big believer in the polio vaccine," Trump said during a Mar-a-Lago news conference Monday morning.
Trump, who was born nine years before the polio vaccine was first licensed in the U.S., has said previously he is in favor of the preventative measure.
“The polio vaccine is the greatest thing,” he said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" earlier this month.
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Other Republicans have come out opposing any attempts to limited or remove the polio vaccine, as well.
“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, said in a statement Friday. "Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous. Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”
The former and future president has still continued to back Kennedy as his choice to oversee agencies including the Food and Drug Administration.
"I think he's going to be much less radical than you would think," Trump said of Kennedy during Monday's news conference.
"But there are problems," he added. "... And we're going to find out what those problems are."
Contributing: Zac Anderson, Eduardo Cuevas
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is a 'big believer' in polio vaccine amid RFK Jr. scrutiny