2025-01-28
12 分钟These parents believe in home-schooling and distrust food and drug companies. In Kennedy, they see “a bull in the china shop.”
My name is Ruth Graham.
I'm a religion reporter for the Times.
I'm based in Dallas, Texas, and I cover the way that religion intersects with politics,
culture, and anything else in American life.
This week, Robert F.
Kennedy, Jr.
Who is Donald Trump's nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services,
will face confirmation hearings in the Senate.
Kennedy is a controversial figure because he has some pretty unorthodox ideas about public health.
He has long questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
That's a major concern for a lot of public health experts.
He's promoted the debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism.
He's questioned the polio vaccine, even.
He's also criticized ultra processed foods.
He's raised questions about fluoride in the water supply.
So there's a pretty wide array of things that he's talked publicly about for years.
As someone who reports on religion and often on conservative Christians,
the first reaction that I was hearing when Trump was floating Kennedy's name
as a potential Cabinet pick was alarm from conservative Christians who were aware
that Kennedy had expressed support for abortion rights during his own campaign and at other times.