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who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the health minister chosen by Donald Trump?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's residence in Florida, November 14, 2024. CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS

By calling Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Thursday, November 14, to become his minister of health, President-elect Donald Trump provided a new illustration of his desire to shake up the establishment. Antivax, without scientific expertise, “RFK Jr”, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, announced his intention to “clean up corruption” which he believes exists in federal health and food control agencies.

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Donald Trump has specified that the primary mission of this former lawyer specializing in the environment will be to attack the large pharmaceutical and agri-food monopolies. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the agribusiness complex and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in public health deception and misinformation.”he denounced.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which RFK Jr. will lead if confirmed by the Senate, oversees key areas, such as drug, vaccine and food safety, medical research and Medicare programs. and Medicaid, crucial in the field of health insurance. President-elect says RFK Jr must ensure Americans are protected “unsafe chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives that have contributed to the enormous health crisis in this country.”

Committed to the environmental fight

Robert Francis Kennedy Junior, 70 years old, has always been a special figure in the political and social life of the United States. Deprived at the age of 14 of his father, Robert Kennedy, a candidate for the White House who was assassinated in 1968, he studied at Harvard, where he left the memory of a small dealer – and big user – of drugs. In 1984, he was arrested for heroin possession. He got back on track thanks to his commitment to the environmental movement. As part of his volunteer work for the environmental organization Riverkeeper, he sued polluters of the Hudson River in New York. For twenty years, he was praised by the American environmental defense movement, notably for having led the fight against Monsanto and its herbicide Roundup.

By fighting against multinationals, it has distinguished itself by positions increasingly removed from common sense. His reputation was tarnished by his publicly stated belief that vaccination could cause autism in children, a claim for which the medical community has never found any scientific basis.

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