What RFK Jr Said About Samoa Trip Compared to Letter
Kennedy told lawmakers his trip had "nothing to do with vaccines," but a letter he wrote appears to refute that testimony.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced questions after a 2019 letter he wrote to the Samoan prime minister appeared to conflict with his testimony before Congress. A letter dated January 20, 2019, obtained by The Associated Press and The Guardian revealed Kennedy's interest in studying Samoa's MMR vaccines following the deaths of two children who received them.
In the letter, he used the terms "vaccine" or "vaccination" eight times, raising doubts about his claims made to lawmakers that the trip had nothing to do with vaccines. Kennedy, a vocal vaccine critic, was leading the Children's Health Defense at the time and had often linked his Samoa visit to anti-vaccine activism. However, the Samoan government later debunked this claim, attributing the measles outbreak to human error rather than vaccine issues.
During his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2025, Kennedy denied having any intention of discussing vaccines during his visit, stating that his sole purpose was to introduce a medical informatics system to improve health delivery efficiency. Yet, new documents suggest that his letter to the Samoan prime minister explicitly expressed his intention to assess the country's MMR vaccines.
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