--- title: RFK Jr. Outlines Priorities on Food, Vaccines, and Personnel description: In a post-confirmation interview on Fox News, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wouldn’t ban vaccines and has a ‘list’ of people to fire. canonical: https://time.com/7222533/rfk-jr-health-human-services-secretary-confirmation-interview-fox-vaccines/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-14T05:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:43:34.020Z article:section: Politics og:title: RFK Jr. Outlines Priorities on Food, Vaccines, and Personnel og:description: In a post-confirmation interview on Fox News, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wouldn’t ban vaccines and has a ‘list’ of people to fire. og:url: https://time.com/7222533/rfk-jr-health-human-services-secretary-confirmation-interview-fox-vaccines/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c74885ea150c49a/6998b66c7323af80a82bab6a/robert-f-kennedy-jr.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Secretary Of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: RFK Jr. Outlines Priorities on Food, Vaccines, and Personnel twitter:description: In a post-confirmation interview on Fox News, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wouldn’t ban vaccines and has a ‘list’ of people to fire. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c74885ea150c49a/6998b66c7323af80a82bab6a/robert-f-kennedy-jr.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # RFK Jr. Outlines His Health Secretary Priorities in Post-Confirmation Interview With Fox News ## Video: RFK Jr. is Sworn In as Trump's Health Secretary [Watch (HLS stream): RFK Jr. is Sworn In as Trump's Health Secretary](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XHngTg5N.m3u8) (2:24)  _Published 2025-02-13. The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of America’s most notorious vaccine skeptics, to run the country’s leading health agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on Thursday, sparking outrage among public health experts who worry that Kennedy will harm public health and further erode trust in science and medicine. Kennedy, 71, was one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. For years, Kennedy has spread medical disinformation, enraging experts in the field. He’s repeated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism—even though research overwhelmingly proves that vaccines are both safe and effective—and has made controversial statements about raw milk and fluoride in water._  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Feb 14, 2025 5:00 AM UTC  Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks on Fox News after his confirmation, Feb. 13, 2025. Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks on Fox News after his confirmation, Feb. 13, 2025.Paul Morigi—Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Feb 14, 2025 5:00 AM UTC In an [interview](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6368793267112) just hours after his confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. outlined his priorities in response to specific prompts by Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “It’s MAHA time” read a chyron as Kennedy joined the program, later changing to “MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!”—a variation on Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan. Kennedy asserted that the U.S. is “the sickest country in the world,” a talking point he has repeated many times in reference to its low ranking on various metrics among developed nations. He said that Americans face not only a health crisis but also a “spiritual crisis.” Kennedy suggested that addressing “diseases of isolation” would be a major focus of his role in the Trump Administration, saying that disconnection from communities drives chronic diseases, suicide, depression, alcoholism, and addiction. “I think we have to address all of those things at the same time. We can’t just say we’re going to make you physically healthy.” “That’s a tall order,” Ingraham responded before discussing how unconventional a pick Kennedy was for the role he is assuming, playing a clip of Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer criticizing Kennedy’s qualifications. “The qualifications that Senator Schumer is talking about there, are the very qualifications that got us to where we are today,” Kennedy said. “We do need a break. We need somebody different who can come in and say, ‘I’m going to be a disruptor. I’m not going to let the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry run health policy anymore.’” Here’s what else Kennedy spoke about. **Read More:** [_‘Terrifying’: Public Health Experts React to Senate’s Confirmation of RFK Jr. to Lead HHS_](https://time.com/7222309/rfk-jr-confirmed-hhs-public-health-react/) ## ‘We shouldn't be subsidizing people to eat poison’ When asked by Ingraham what food additives he’d effectively remove from the U.S., Kennedy did not say he would outright ban any, arguing that Americans should have “freedom of choice.” “If you want to eat Twinkies,” he said, “you ought to be able to eat them.” But he promised to bring about “radical transparency” in informing people of food ingredients and their health effects. Kennedy did say, however, that he would target the [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program](https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program) (food stamps) as well as school lunches for changes. Kennedy has previously criticized the programs for prioritizing ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, calling for a reorientation toward healthier options. “We shouldn't be subsidizing people to eat poison,” he said. **Read More:** [_RFK Jr. Says Ultra-Processed Foods Are ‘Poison’—But That He Won’t Ban Them_](https://time.com/7211678/rfk-jr-ultra-processed-foods-ban/) ## ‘I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccine’ Kennedy also said, “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccine,” promising instead to publicize more information on their efficacy and side effects, claiming currently insufficient safety studies and surveillance of vaccine effects. “If people are happy with their vaccines, they ought to be able to get them,” Kennedy said. “What we’re going to do is give people good science.” Asked whether he thought the COVID-19 vaccine was safe, Kennedy told Ingraham: “We don’t have good data on it. And that is a crime.” **Read More:** [_RFK Jr. Denied He Is Anti-Vaccine During His Confirmation Hearing. Here’s His Record_](https://time.com/7210943/rfk-confirmation-hearing-vaccines/) ## ‘I have a list in my head’ Kennedy also promised firings in the Department and its subagencies—including the world’s major research funder National Institutes of Health. “I have a list in my head,” Kennedy told Ingraham when asked if he had a list of specific people to remove. Kennedy said that lower-level federal employees were “public-spirited, good public servants, good American patriots, and hardworking people.” and that he was more interested in “moving away the people who have made really bad decisions.” When asked if he would cut the Department’s workforce in half, Kennedy said there are 90,000 employees and he’d “be surprised if there were 50% cuts.” “If you’ve been involved in good science—you have nothing to worry about. If you care about public health, you’ve got nothing to worry about.” **Read More:** [_Get Ready for a Catastrophic Four Years for Public Health_](https://time.com/7174381/public-health-under-president-donald-trump-rfk-jr/) ## ‘We have now a capacity to really study it’ Ingraham also asked Kennedy about marijuana and abortion drugs, to which he replied that more studies need to be done. Kennedy said he was “worried” about the “catastrophic impacts” that high-THC marijuana can have on youth but added “that worry also has to be balanced” with how 24 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational use of the drug and too many people have been incarcerated over the drug. Kennedy said state-level legalization allows for more intensive studies on the effects of marijuana. Kennedy also said similar safety studies will be done on abortion-inducing drugs, but he didn’t say whether he thinks access to those pills need to be tightened. **Read More:** [_RFK Jr. Says He’ll Follow Trump’s Lead on Abortion_](https://time.com/7210724/rfk-jr-abortion-position-senate-confirmation-hearing/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7222533/rfk-jr-health-human-services-secretary-confirmation-interview-fox-vaccines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7222533/rfk-jr-health-human-services-secretary-confirmation-interview-fox-vaccines/"},"headline":"RFK Jr. Outlines His Health Secretary Priorities in Post-Confirmation Interview With Fox News","datePublished":"2025-02-14T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:43:34.020Z","description":"In a post-confirmation interview on Fox News, Health Secretary Robert F. 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