RFK Jr.'s Kids Are Vaccinated, Even Though He Doesn't Really Like Vaccines

If you know one thing about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. other than who he's named after, it's probably that he is a famous vaccine crank. He has made his bones in large part by suggesting that certain vaccines cause autism, citing studies that have been debunked over and over again.

Even as measles spreads across the country, RFK has continued to appear in public and suggest that vaccines cause many of the problems they are designed to present (which is also untrue). Given how publicly he has appeared to be opposed to vaccines, many wanted to know whether his own children were vaccinated. Here's what we know.

Despite his own skepticism about vaccinations, all of RFK's children are vaccinated, and he made that clear during his Senate confirmation hearing.

“I want to make sure the committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,” Kennedy said in his opening statement. “All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.”

That claim might sound reasonable, but it's also a pretty stark contradiction to his publicly hostile stances against vaccines. Now, as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, RFK has used his position in part to defund vaccine outreach programs and the CDC is now funding a study that looks into the links between autism and vaccines (which, again, has already been debunked).

So, you could look at RFK's stance on vaccines and think that he's telling the truth. He is really just pro-safety, and he allowed his kids to be vaccinated because he believed the vaccines that they received were healthy.

You could also look at his stance, though, and see him as a hypocrite. A man who claims to be skeptical of vaccines and their efficacy, but will use them when it's people that he knows and cares about.

RFK has made his name in part by acting like a brave truth-teller who is willing to say things that other people won't. Unfortunately, he's not telling the truth. Whatever he may feel about vaccines, there is no scientific evidence that they are anywhere near as dangerous as he says they are, and his campaign to discredit them has led to reduced uptake of various vaccines across the country.

In fact, in 2020, he made it clear that if he could go back in time and keep his children from receiving vaccines, he would.

“What would I do if I could go back in time and I could avoid giving my children the vaccines that I gave them?” he asked in 2020, “I would do anything for that. I would pay anything to be able to do that.”

There's a measles outbreak in Texas, one that would have been entirely preventable if that population was better vaccinated. When asked how the disease could be prevented, he suggested that a better diet might do the trick.