It’s just a matter of days before Election Day on Nov. 5, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are wrapping up their presidential campaigns with bold statements and big promises. For Trump, that meant, in part, sharing his plans for who he will bring on board to his team if he wins. And one name he recently mentioned that’s causing a stir is his former political opponent and now hype man, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
At a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, Trump shared his plans to give Kennedy a position in the Department of Health and Human Services: “I’m going to let him go wild on health,” he said, “I’m going to let him go wild on the food, I’m going to let him go wild on medicines.” Then, during a rally on Oct. 31 that took place in Henderson, Nevada, Trump shared another detail about his plans for RFK: “He’s gonna work on health, and women’s health,” Trump said.Â
Kennedy has a controversial history in regard to public health, including his false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, saying at a 2021 speaking event in California that, “It’s criminal medical malpractice to give a child one of these vaccines.” Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccination organization led by Kennedy (though he is on leave from the org as of April 2023), continues to advocate against vaccines, pushing out false information about vaccines effectiveness, and promoting beliefs that vaccines can cause autism — a claim that hasn’t been scientifically proven and has been consistently discredited by multiple health organizations across the country.
No. ❤️ https://t.co/mHXJZ0Jba5
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 1, 2024
It’s no surprise, then, that Harris’s response to Trump wanting to put Kennedy in charge of health — and, specifically, women’s health — was swift. She replied to a video of Trump’s Nevada rally writing just the word “no” and a red heart emoji next to it. It was a very Gen Z response, one that aligns well with the generation’s casual unseriousness when it comes to serious situations, but also one that aligns with the feelings many young women have about men making decisions about women’s bodies.