No Wonder Voters Don’t Trust Trump or RFK Jr. to Handle a Public Health Crisis
Washington D.C. – With Donald Trump forcing out FDA Commissioner Marty Makary for unscrupulous reasons, that now leaves this administration with no permanent FDA head, no Surgeon General, and no permanent CDC director as the ‘ineffectual’ NIH Director with no medical training pretends to oversee the CDC competently. Senate Republicans have not even bothered to schedule confirmation hearings for Trump’s latest in a long line of nominees for CDC director and Surgeon General.
The void of health department leadership is unprecedented for an administration well into its second year, leaving the nation more vulnerable to public health threats like hantavirus and measles.
Americans are right to be worried about health emergency preparedness: A new Data for Progress survey found a clear majority of voters (53%), including 59% of Independents, say they don’t trust Trump to handle a public health crisis; while 51% of voters (51%), including 58% of Independents, say they don’t trust Kennedy to be on top of it.
“As public health threats loom large, it’s unnerving that Don Jr’s unqualified ‘hunting buddy’ is now overseeing our food and drug safety, there’s no Surgeon General to guide the public through troubled public health waters, and the NIH director with no medical training is phoning it in at the CDC,” said Kayla Hancock, Director of Protect Our Care’s Public Health Project. “Donald Trump and RFK Jr’s patchwork health department has no authority figure around to object as they pursue a dangerous anti-science agenda, like wasting tens of millions of tax dollars to fear-monger vaccine safety.”
SEE ALSO: Politico: RFK Jr.’s next vaccine moves could upend White House election-year messaging
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