Washington D.C. – CDC data reveals U.S. measles cases have now officially reached the highest level in 35 years, “surpassing all of last year’s record total … with more than five months still remaining in 2026”. 93 percent of the infections involve the unvaccinated or those with unknown status. Protect Our Care called the milestone an inevitable result of the unrelenting Trump-RFK Jr. anti-vax agenda that has stoked unfounded fear about vaccine safety and further dragged down vaccination rates.
“Donald Trump and RFK Jr. remain on a suicide mission to scare America families away from vaccines without cause or evidence. What they’ve accomplished is a huge dip in vaccination rates and the worst measles crisis in 35 years,” said Brad Woodhouse, president of Protect Our Care. “While the nation’s measles elimination status is doomed, the Trump CDC apparently has not spent a dime on public service ads promoting the one thing that will get us out of the woods: the measles vaccine. Instead, Sec. Kennedy is busy cooking up his next anti-vax fear campaign at Trump’s personal urging while installing even more science deniers in the administration. And unfortunately, the prospective next CDC director has signaled no interest in standing up to her bosses as they insist on leaving Americans more vulnerable to preventable disease. Maintaining the Trump status quo means more outbreaks of everything from measles to whooping cough, more kids in hospitals, more needless deaths, and higher costs for everyone.”
FLASHBACK: RFK Jr. in April 2026: “We’ve done better under my leadership than any country in the world in limiting [measles].” Kennedy has used his celebrity and influence as HHS Secretary to spread false and dangerous lies about the MMR vaccine, which has directly contributed to declining vaccination rates and increased spread of the disease. Eerily reminiscent of RFK Jr’s dubious self-congratulations on measles in April, the Secretary now claims the cyclosporiasis outbreak is ‘under control’ amid at least 1,600 cases in 5 states in the wake of short-sighted Trump cuts to disease monitoring and preparedness.
A LOOK BACK AT HOW RFK JR. ABUSED HIS CELEBRITY AND POWER TO BASELESSLY DISCOURAGE VACCINES AND WELCOME OUTBREAKS OF PREVENTABLE DISEASE:
- In 2015, Kennedy called vaccination a “Holocaust,” repeating his claims about autism and comparing it to genocide.
- A 2019 study found that “the majority of Facebook advertisements spreading misinformation about vaccines were funded by two anti-vaccine groups”, including Children’s Health Defense which was founded and led at the time by RFK Jr. This is the same group that invited an Idaho woman on their podcast to amplify her claims that vaccines killed her 18-month-old twins, and who has since been charged with their murders.
- “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” declared RFK Jr. in a July 2023 appearance on Lex Fridman’s podcast.
- During an interview on Fox News in March 2025, Kennedy recklessly and baselessly claimed that the MMR vaccine leads to “deaths every year” among other blatant falsehoods.
- RFK Jr Promoted Cod Liver Oil After Two Children Died of Measles in Texas in 2025: RFK Jr.’s tenure as HHS Secretary began with a serious outbreak of measles centered in West Texas. By the time the outbreak was over, more than 750 cases had been reported, dozens of people were hospitalized, and two unvaccinated school-aged children had died. Initial response to the outbreak was hampered by Kennedy’s chaotic layoffs and funding cuts at the CDC. In February 2025, after the first death from the measles in the U.S. in a decade was reported, RFK Jr. continued to downplay the seriousness of the situation, calling such outbreaks “not unusual.” As cases continued to soar and local officials pleaded with residents to vaccinate their children, Kennedy touted vitamin A and cod liver oil as “dramatically” reducing measles mortality and publicly praised two Texas doctors promoting these bogus treatments — including one doctor who was later filmed seeing patients while covered in an infectious measles rash. RFK Jr.’s quack cures did nothing to end the outbreak, but did result in a 38.7% spike in Vitamin A poisoning for those who followed his advice instead of vaccinating.
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