Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done good work.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the latter was announced by President-elect Donald Trump as the nominee for U.S. health secretary, although Polis later backtracked on his praise for Kennedy’s work on vaccines.
Polis, a Democrat, wrote in a Nov. 14 post on social media platform X that he’s excited about the appointment.
I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than… pic.twitter.com/cILtTYplcn
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) November 14, 2024
Kennedy “helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Polis wrote. “I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health.”
Kennedy has said none of the available vaccines are safe or effective and opposed vaccine mandates. He has called for caps on drug prices, improving nutrition, and moving away from an agricultural system that regularly uses pesticides.
“We have tried unsuccessfully to better protect people and pollinators from harmful pesticides here in Colorado and we need all the help we can get to take on big chemical companies and improve human health and the environment!” Polis said.
A spokesperson for Polis told news outlets in a statement after the post that 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.”
Polis is “opposed to RFK’s positions on a host of issues, including vaccines and banning fluoridation” but “would appreciate seeing action on pesticides and efforts to lower prescription drug costs and if Trump is going to nominate someone like him then let them also take on soda, processed food, pesticides and heavy metals contamination,” the spokesperson said. “But he definitely does not endorse actions that would lead to measles outbreaks and opposes unscientific propaganda that undermines confidence in the lifesaving impact of vaccines.”
