Doctors are worried Trump wants to leave health policy to vaccination opponent Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wanted to become US president, but gave up the race. Donald Trump wants to entrust the politician known as an anti-vaccinationist with US health policy if he wins the election.

For a long time, Robert F. Kennedy was a rival of Donald Trump in the US election campaign. He only withdrew from the race at the end of August - and has been supporting Trump ever since. Trump thanks Kennedy in his own way and has already offered him a position in the government if he wins.

Kennedy is to play a prominent role in the healthcare system in future. This sounds unspectacular at first, but on closer inspection it shows what lies ahead for the USA if the Republican wins the election. Kennedy not only made a name for himself as an opponent of vaccination during the coronavirus pandemic, but also likes to advocate unproven medical theories. Should he be given the authority to do so, he would "clean up" the infrastructure of what he considers to be a corrupt public health system.

He wants to put "the best minds", including Kennedy, in charge of improving children's health, Trump said at a campaign appearance in the particularly contested state of Pennsylvania. The aim is to halve the number of cases of cancer and depression as well as suicides among children within four years. He did not say how he intended to achieve this goal, nor did he give any details of the exact position that Kennedy would take up.

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Kennedy, for his part, is already forging ahead, as the New York Times reports. One of the first actions of a second Trump administration would be to "advise all US water utilities to remove fluoride from public water", he posted on social media.

This, according to the NYT, would be a stunning departure from what is considered one of the most important public health innovations of the past century in the US. Dentists across the country are now concerned. In the US, small amounts of fluoride have been added to drinking water in many places since the 1950s to combat tooth decay.

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According to the health authorities, this measure has been extremely successful. Numerous studies in recent decades have shown that fluoridation of drinking water has reduced tooth decay in children and adults by 25 percent.

Nevertheless, an old debate about the measure has flared up again in recent years. Some studies suggest that the brain development of infants can be damaged if they ingest too much fluoride - twice as much as recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Kennedy would get a free hand from Trump

A similar argument had already been made in the 1950s. Back then, conspiracy theories claimed that communists were trying to damage the brains of Americans through fluoridation.

Former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy is the nephew of US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. He is frequently criticized not only by his old party but also by members of his family for spreading conspiracy theories and having contacts with far-right politicians.

Trump wants to give him a free hand with healthcare policy if he wins the election. In an interview with the successful but controversial podcaster Joe Rogan, the Republican confirmed that he could do what he wanted there.