Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a flood of texts to Bill Nye trying to convince the beloved “Science Guy” of his anti-vax claims.
The old text chain, sent before Kennedy became Donald Trump’s health secretary, was revealed by Nye during a Men’s Health profile of the children’s television presenter.
The barrage of messages from the prominent vaccine skeptic, which the magazine described as “miles and miles of texts,” contained numerous links to articles and websites peddling vaccine-autism conspiracies that Nye said he paid no real attention to.
“Just no self-awareness,” Nye said. “And if you read these articles he sent, they’re all this speculation about autism and just cause-and-effect, and mercury in vaccines, that maybe there’s a connection. I wrote him back and said, ‘Okay, I’ll read your book. I think you’ve confused causation with correlation. Your friend, Bill.’”
The stream of messages did not end there, Nye said, even after he told Kennedy, “Okay, no more texts.”
“He started again! So I cut him off,” Nye said. “He does not have good judgment. He is not suited for this job.”
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson disagreed, telling the Daily Beast that Kennedy is “leading one of the most ambitious public health reform efforts in modern history, grounded in evidence, radical transparency, and a true commitment to the American people.”
Kennedy has led a full-blown assault on vaccines as part of the Trump administration’s campaign to restore public “trust” in the lifesaving shots.
That includes the shock move to fire all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an expert panel that evaluates vaccine safety and efficacy. All had been appointed under the Biden administration.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Kennedy said vaccines had become a “divisive issue in American politics” and that public confidence in the health agencies that provide them is ”waning.”
Nye said the increase in vaccine skepticism, which soared amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is having real life negative consequences on people’s lives.
That includes the reaction to a measles outbreak in Texas that primarily hit unvaccinated individuals in the Mennonite community.
“It was a religious sect with historically low vaccination rates. And the argument from the other side is: They have rights not to get vaccinated. No, you don’t,” a frustrated Nye said. “Unvaccinated people can, and usually do, spread a disease. And that’s why we have these rules, for public health! It’s not arbitrary. It’s not about your rights. It’s about my rights, people.”
Nye didn’t hold back on Kennedy’s bizarre public stunts either—like chugging raw milk with health influencer Dr. Paul Saladino to promote the Trump administration’s initially error-riddled Make America Healthy Again report on childhood illness.
“And then this thing where people want to drink raw milk. No, you don’t,” Nye said. “This is very well understood! Louis Pasteur! You guyyys! What is happening?”
For more, listen to Bill Nye the Science Guy on The Last Laugh podcast.
