If Trump “unleashes RFK Jr. on health,” it would put us all at risk

The old people I knew in the South often warned us kids, “You don’t believe that fat meat is fatty!” Their point, in case you don’t speak Southernwas that we pretended not to believe in the consequences. Not believing that fat meat was fatty was like not believing, for example, that adults who promised to punish our misbehavior would follow through.

One of the consequences of his term was the high Covid death rate in the US (at least compared to Europe), as Trump abdicated his responsibility as leader.

We see a collective disbelief that fatty meat is fatty among people who trust Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be a “Make America healthy againmovement. One of the worst consequences of his tenure was the high death rate from Covid-19 in the US.at least compared to Europe) when Trump abdicated his responsibility as leader and was deceived the public as the most serious health crisis in a century unfolded. (He did find time for it send Covid test kits to Russian President Vladimir Putinalthough.)

Trump was dangerous to the health of this country when he was president, and you would be foolish to believe he wouldn’t be so dangerous if he were re-elected.

To consider his endorsement of quackeryhis embrace of snake oil treatments and anti-vaccine partisans, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The President of the United States giving credence to the idea that drugs used to treat malaria and lupus would cure Covid helped reinforce the idea that being conservative means not believing the data or embracing the scientific method. (It also cost the lives of lupus patients who could not get the necessary medications.)

Trump joins forces with RFK Jr., perhaps the most famous in the country disdain for vaccines — and saying he would consider giving Kennedy a role in a second Trump administration — is a pledge to continue harming public health.

Trump’s rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden was problematic for other reasons the racism on display. It was there that Trump said he would “allow” Kennedygo crazy for health.” At an earlier meeting, Trump said, “Let’s go, Bobby. You’re going to make us healthy, Bobby?”

Although Trump deserves credit for that Operation Warp Speedwho accelerated the creation of Covid vaccines, many of his key supporters do not recognize him; she debt him for it, and so he has largely stopped taking credit for his reign’s greatest achievement.

His fear ofI did my own research‘mood led him to make the terrible promise that he would’don’t give a dime to a school that has a vaccine mandate.” Already – in evidence that Republicans’ hostility to vaccines is contagious – the share of children who attended kindergarten without the recommended supplementation of vaccinations was the highest ever during the 2023-2024 school year. And public health officials have sounded the alarm about this new and unfounded outrage about vaccines helps reviving diseases once conquered.

Louisiana’s surgeon general railed against mask mandates in September and “forced vaccinationsand then complained about it he prescribed ivermectin to Covid patientssome pharmacies wouldn’t fill it. His counterpart in Florida has done so discouraged people most at risk of Covid complications of getting booster shots. Without Trump and his willingness to openly spread dangerous medical misinformation, it is unthinkable that a governor would place these types of doctors in public health care positions.

His fear of losing the “I did my own research” vote led him to pledge that he would “not give a dime to any school that has a vaccine mandate.”

And let’s not forget it Trump’s failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act when he was president. On Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested that if Trump were to win again, there would be “no Obamacare.” While having insurance doesn’t guarantee you’ll be healthy, promising to take away people’s health insurance is certainly not a strategy for better health. It’s such a terrible message in 2024 that even Trump’s campaign said on Thursday:Repealing Obamacare is not President Trump’s policy position.” He’s probably still working on his “concept of a plan.”

The health of the country is a serious matter, but there is an inherent ironic comedy in hearing Trump embrace a health message. The former president, who somehow managed to survive, was reported diet consisting mainly of McDonald’s And Diet Cokeoffered silver bowls of his cool favorites to the Clemson Tigers football team when it showed up to celebrate its national championship. (Trump bragged that he paid for the fast food himself, since the event took place during a government shutdown.)

This campaign season, Trump has surrounded himself with people who believe that making America healthy again means getting promoted unpasteurized milk. That is, he is not only the candidate for those who do not want children to attend schools that have herd immunity against preventable but potentially dangerous viruses, but he is also the candidate for those who do not believe that salmonella and E. coli can punish. their insides in a way they won’t soon forget.