President-elect Donald Trump's selection of a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine drew sharp criticism on social media, with one journalist calling his appointment a "remarkable turn" — given he was a "pariah four years ago, dismissed by the then-NIH director for his 'fringe' views."
Trump announced Tuesday night that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has been tapped to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health.
"Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives," Trump said in a statement.
Bhattacharya holds an M.D. and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, and he gained notoriety during the pandemic as an author of the controversial "Great Barrington Declaration," which Trump lauded in his announcement as "an alternative to lockdowns proposed in October 2020."
"Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America’s biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease. Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!" wrote Trump.
The declaration urged governments against lockdowns and instead focus on protecting vulnerable groups including elderly adults — a fact not lost on social media.
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"Trump makes it official: JAY BHATTACHARYA, a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, is his pick to lead the National Institutes of Health," wrote Washington Post reporter Dan Diamond on Bluesky. "A remarkable turn after Bhattacharya became a public health pariah four years ago, dismissed by the then-NIH director for his 'fringe' views."
Walker Bragman, a journalist and co-founder of OptOut Media Foundation, wrote that Bhattacharya is "one of the architects of a failed herd immunity strategy reliant on mass infection, arguing against infection controls, including vaccines."
"Although not explicitly anti-vax, Bhattacharya has cast doubt on the necessity/safety of vaccinating young folks + made allies of anti-vaxxers," he noted on Bluesky.
"This guy co-authored the 'Great Barrington Declaration' in Oct 2020. To put this into perspective, 1.2m Americans died of Covid. ~385,000 died in 2020. Bhattacharya, Makary, Oz, Nesheiwat and RFK Jr will not make Americans healthier. All of them are unqualified and dangerous for our country," wrote pharmacologist Lex Maria.
"To no one's surprise, Trump chooses Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More terrible news," wrote Jonathan Jarry, a podcaster on The Body of Evidence.
"When Jay Bhattacharya gave his full throated political support to RFK Jr, one of the world’s most extreme anti-vaxx activists, including speaking at an RFK Jr rally, the writing was very clearly on the anti-vaxx wall. No surprise at all that RFK Jr rewards him with a MAGA nomination!" wrote Gavin Yamey, professor of Global Health and Public Policy at Duke University.
