Since emerging as the country’s nominated top health official in January, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spread 12 provably false health claims in government hearings, media appearances, and on social media that have collectively amassed 25 million views on X alone, according to a NewsGuard analysis.
From his high-profile perch as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, overseeing an agency with a proposed 2026 budget of $94.7 billion and more than 80,000 employees, Kennedy has advanced claims ranging from the baseless assertion that Lyme disease is a government-engineered bioweapon to the long-debunked claim that pharmaceutical drugs are a leading cause of death in the U.S. (See above for a full list of the false claims advanced by Kennedy and their spread.)
As previously reported by NewsGuard, Kennedy, an outspoken anti-vaccine activist, has long pushed false claims about vaccines and other health matters. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy has continued this practice. Indeed, due to his higher profile, he has become increasingly influential in the spread of such claims.
For this report, NewsGuard reviewed posts on X that promoted false health claims that either were shared by Kennedy or were posted by others citing Kennedy since his first confirmation hearing for HHS secretary on Jan. 29, 2025 — the starting point for his well-publicized involvement in the second Trump administration. (He was formally nominated by President Donald Trump on Nov. 14,...
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