Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been such an awful Secretary of Health and Human Services, it feels like a zillion years since he faced questions about how his anti-vaxxism spread measles in Samoa. But thanks to new reporting by Associated Press and The Guardian, we now know that he lied to Congress when he said the purpose of his trip there had nothing to do with vaccines.
As The Guardian explained, in 2019, while Kennedy was still a private anti-vaxxer, he visited Samoa “just months before a measles outbreak swept through the island, killing 83 people. … The visit was seen by critics as having emboldened anti-vaccine activists in Samoa.” It was also one of the most controversial events in his career, The Guardian said.
During his 2025 confirmation hearing, Kennedy was repeatedly asked about his visit and he repeatedly denied it had anything to do with vaccines. For example, he told Sen. Ron Wyden, “I went there, nothing to do with vaccines. I went there to introduce a medical informatics system that would digitalize records in Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient.”
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