A scientist who resigned from the CDC this week is warning that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has shown signs he believes in “eugenics.”
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned in protest at the Trump administration’s firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, told MSNBC Saturday morning that America needs to “wake up” to the secretary’s rhetoric.
“I really hear the echoes of the word, ‘superior genetics,’” Daskalakis said. “He referred to very high members of this administration and their improving health status. And said, well, that person has superior genetics… That is eugenics. Wake up. This is a red flag.”
Other examples, Daskalakis said, were how Kennedy spoke about the H5N1 bird flu and measles.
Daskalakis recalled an interview Kennedy gave this year about an outbreak that killed chickens across the country. He said that was the first time he went, “Oh no” about the future of the CDC under Kennedy, as his remarks were not backed by science.
“He was talking about the H5N1 bird flu and chickens, and he said in an interview, ‘All of the chickens should get bird flu, and the ones that survive are genetically superior, and they should reproduce, and they should reestablish the flock’,” said Daskalakis, who suggested that Kennedy’s theory is false.
The scientist continued, “So fast forward to West Texas and measles, where he says, you know, getting the infection is fine, really, because only the strong will survive. You know, like it makes your immune system stronger, which is false. It actually makes your immune system weaker.”
HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Kennedy, 71, is a vaccine skeptic who may ban the COVID-19 vaccine in coming months, a close associate of his told the Daily Beast. In the meantime, his deputies have already made the vaccine more difficult—and more expensive—to obtain.
The brain drain of top federal scientists has accelerated since Monarez’s abrupt firing.
Daskalakis stepped down from his role as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, a position he held for approximately two years. He immediately slammed Kennedy in a fiery resignation letter, accusing him of putting politics and agendas over research and facts.
“Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults,” he wrote. “Their base should be the people they serve, not a political voting bloc.”
The Harvard-educated scientist turned up the heat in his appearance on MSNBC. He said Kennedy is not only unqualified for the role, but also alleged that he outright refuses to listen to federal scientists who are qualified.
“They have the experience to run an organization, it seems,” he said of Kennedy and his deputies. “But if they don’t listen to their experts, they’re flying blind, or they’re answering to other people who are briefing them and giving information to influence what they’re doing that’s not based in science.”
He continued, “I’ve never briefed the secretary. I’ve never met the man. He talks about measles. I don’t know where he knows anything about measles, except for the rhetoric that he’s been putting forward for 20 years. I don’t know who his counselors are. That’s not how it should work in the United States.”
While speaking to reporters Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller praised RFK Jr. as a “crown jewel.”
“Secretary Kennedy has been a crown jewel of this administration who’s working tirelessly to improve public health for all Americans,” he said.
As of Aug. 26, there have been 1,408 confirmed measles cases reported in the United States in 2025. The disease had been declared eliminated in 2000.
