Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democratic presidential candidate, attends the 88th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors on January 22, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Yasin Öztürk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Billionaire public health advocate Mike Bloomberg on Tuesday sharply criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick for U.S. health secretary, over his anti-vaccination record and urged the Senate to reject his bid to lead the Senate reject the country's health authorities.
“Imagine if RFK Jr. had been in office during Trump’s first term,” Bloomberg said at the Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington DC
“Would Operation Warp Speed have even happened? And if so, how long would the vaccinations have been delayed? How many fewer people would have received the vaccination? How many more people would have died?”
“All we can say for sure is this: It would have made Covid even deadlier and more economically painful,” he said.
Giving RFK Jr. the power to steer U.S. health care policy would be “more than dangerous, it would be medical malpractice on a grand scale,” he warned.
The former New York City mayor devoted almost the entire 19-minute speech to criticizing Kennedy's spread of vaccine disinformation, including his “outrageous false claim” that the Covid-19 vaccine was the “deadliest vaccine ever created.” .
Bloomberg, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, has long advocated for public health reforms, both as mayor and through his philanthropic efforts.
RFK Jr. initially ran for president in 2024 as a Democrat, but switched to running as an independent and later dropped out to support Trump.
The campaign of RFK Jr., an environmental lawyer and son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, gave him a prominent national platform and gave new impetus to his conspiracy theories about vaccines.
Bloomberg made a direct appeal to U.S. senators in his speech on Tuesday not to confirm RFK Jr. to the Cabinet role in the next Trump administration.
“We cannot allow Kennedy or Trump or anyone else to bring unimaginable suffering to the American people,” he said.
Bloomberg expressed hope that Senate Republicans will persuade Trump to reconsider RFK Jr.'s nomination before being asked to comment. But if Trump stands by his decision, then the Senate “has a duty to our entire country, but especially to our children.” Vote no,” he said.
Bloomberg also admonished Democrats who appear poised to let RFK Jr. lead the Department of Health and Human Services because of his opposition to junk food and processed foods.
“We don’t have to choose between someone who supports healthy eating and vaccinations. Americans deserve both,” he said.
Bloomberg noted that during his time as mayor, he fought for numerous restrictions on unhealthy products, including an attempt to ban large sugary drinks. These fights drew backlash from conservatives and impacted the consumer goods industry at the time.
But RFK Jr. has taken a similar path, endorsing a plan that he says aims to work with Republicans to “make America healthy again.”
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Bloomberg praised his own efforts to increase the life expectancy of New Yorkers and praised the investments his philanthropic foundation continues to make to combat diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
“But if the federal government backs away from vaccinations, all of this progress will be wiped out,” he said, suggesting it could lead to millions of unnecessary deaths.
And if the government starts investing in “crazy conspiracy theories,” funding for research into cures for other diseases could decline by years, Bloomberg argued.
“It boggles the mind that the Senate would even consider giving Kennedy any power over American health care policy,” he said.
“Whatever one thinks of his positions on food policy, it is not nearly enough to overcome his resistance to vaccines.”
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