RFK. Jr’s Job Performance: Lies That Take Lives

We are used to the fact that Donald Trump and his top appointees lie all the time about almost everything. And these lies do have real consequences.

The whole ICE attack on our country is based on the absurd claim that tens of millions of rapists and murders came across the border during the Biden presidency. This was the core claim that got Trump elected.

In reality, the number is close to 8 million and the overwhelming majority of these people came here to get jobs and support their families. The percentage of criminals among this group is surely far lower than at any Mar a Lago party.

Trump routinely comes up batshit crazy lies about the economy. In his telling, the economy was on the edge of collapse when he took office. In fact, it was being touted in the business press as the envy of the world. The rate of job creation under Biden dwarfed that of every other wealthy country following the pandemic. Factory construction was booming and inflation was almost back down to its pre-pandemic level.

These lies all have consequences, but few lies have as much immediate consequences as RFK Jr.’s absurd lies about vaccines. As someone who is often skeptical of the medical establishment, I am certainly open to the idea that there are problems with vaccines that have not been fully explored. But RFK Jr. has shown zero interest in a serious examination of vaccine safety.

Instead, he insists on pushing utterly absurd claims, like his recent comment that the Covid vaccines killed more people than Covid. He has similarly disparaged other vaccines with long-proven track records, most notably the measles vaccines.

The measles vaccine has been incredibly effective in nearly eliminating a serious and sometimes fatal disease from the United States and other wealthy countries. Side effects from the vaccine are rare and almost always minor.

However, by helping to convince millions of parents that the vaccine poses a serious threat to their children’s health, RFK Jr. has managed to bring back measles in parts of the country where people take his loony rants seriously. The country had the most measles cases this century in 2025, and we are on a path to far surpass that number this year.

Most people who get measles don’t die, but some do, and many suffer long-lasting problems as a result of the disease. It is absurd that children should have to face the risk of an illness for which an effective vaccine was developed more than sixty years ago because a clown who snorts cocaine off of toilet seats wants more time in the spotlight.

Again, if RFK Jr. had any real evidence of bad effects of the measles vaccine, or any other vaccine, it would be great to put it on the table and examine it. But his anti-vax crusade is not evidence based. It is fairy tale nonsense where he just says whatever feels good to him at time. Most recently he made the absurd claim that children can get 92 vaccines. The actual number is 30.

In an administration where top appointees are expected to lie all the time to advance Donald Trump’s agenda, it would be hard to argue that RFK Jr. is the worst liar. But his lies are so utterly pointless and have very direct and real consequences. It would be great if we could find some other way to let him be in the spotlight, maybe a reality TV show star, so he didn’t have to damage the country’s health to get attention.

This first appeared on Dean Baker’s Beat the Press blog.

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