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November 15, 2024 10:55 AM UTC

Gov. Polis Partly Walks Back Ill-Advised RFK Jr. Love

  • 24 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
HHS Secretary nominee RFK Jr. (right).

Politico reported the latest gobsmacking announcement from the Trump 2.0 transition team yesterday you’ve probably already seen, failed spoiler presidential candidate and preeminent public health conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be nominated to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services–the agency tasked with protecting the public from, among a host of other threats, crackpots like RFK Jr.:

The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and food policy in his administration after Kennedy dropped his own presidential bid to endorse the now-president-elect. It’s also a sign of the opening Trump sees after he scored a decisive electoral victory and Republicans won a comfortable majority in the Senate…

Kennedy, 70, may still face a steep slope to confirmation after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism, written a book accusing former National Institutes of Health official Anthony Fauci of conspiring with tech mogul Bill Gates and drugmakers to sell Covid-19 vaccines and said regulatory officials are industry puppets who should be removed. [Pols emphasis]

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Kennedy will be treated like all other nominees.

“I don’t have any preconceived notion about it,” Cornyn said.

When asked if vaccine positions might make confirmation difficult: “I’m sure it will come up.”

RFK Jr. has for years promoted the thoroughly discredited and harmful misinformation that vaccines cause autism. Last year, RFK. Jr. was caught on camera suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic “targeted” white people while sparing “Ashkenazi Jews.” RFK Jr. promotes the completely unfounded idea that Wifi and 5G cell phone signals cause cancer and other health maladies. It’s a nomination so perfectly at odds with the needed skillset for the job that it manages to compare with nominating Rep. Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General, whose experience with the criminal justice system comes primarily from being investigated by the Justice Department for child sex trafficking.

Though most observers with a rudimentary understanding of RFK Jr.’s record agree that he is an almost comically poor choice to serve in any Cabinet position let alone Secretary of HHS, the debate over RFK Jr.’s nomination here in Colorado went sideways yesterday afternoon after Gov. Jared Polis, known despite his general progressive leanings as soft on vaccination requirements, hailed RFK Jr.’s nomination in a rude shock to local and national Democrats lining up to express their disgust:

To be clear, those were not the quotes from RFK. Jr. about Wifi causing cancer and COVID-19 being engineered to spare the Jews. It’s true that in the long record of public pronouncements on a wide variety of issues there are doubtless some issues RFK Jr. has touched on that may have a degree of scientific validity–although you’ll never catch us drinking unpasteurized milk. But there’s just no way to separate that bit of potentially useful alternative perspective from the completely insane and long-debunked ideas that RFK Jr. promotes about so many other subjects. And all of that before we even touch on RFK Jr.’s personal history, full of by RFK Jr.’s own admission “so many skeletons” that they could elect him “king of the world.”

As Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland reports, the reaction to Polis’ praise for RFK. Jr. from fellow Colorado Democrats including the chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party Shad Murib was, to understate out of politeness, not positive:

[Sen. Kyle] Mullica accused Polis of spreading misinformation, saying the governor should be standing up for science and standing up for public health experts.

“And I’ll tell you now, RFK Jr. is not an expert,” Mullica told CPR News. “He is not a scientist. He is someone who has figured out how to profit off of this misinformation and who really likes all the attention that comes along with it. And I think that it’s just a sad day.”

The head of the Colorado Democratic Party Shad Murib also weighed in after Polis made his endorsement with a one-word response on X: “Welp”…

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been credibly accused of sexual assault and consistently undermines trust in science using his personal beliefs and conspiracy theories as evidence,” Murib said in a statement. [Pols emphasis]

Gov. Polis’ praise for RFK Jr.’s nomination is especially problematic after Polis joined with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker this week to form a coalition of state governors to fight “against increasing threats of autocracy” created by Donald Trump’s re-election. Falling in line behind one of Trump 2.0’s most controversial nominees is not exactly a show of strength for the resistance, and within a few hours Polis found himself in full damage control mode:

This is a partial climb-down from Polis’ previous full-throated support for RFK Jr.’s nomination, but it doesn’t address enough of RFK Jr.’s deranged history on a broad range of issues to be sufficient–mostly because if it did, there’s no way any rational person could justify supporting this man for any position of authority let alone over public health. In a regrettable moment of “post-partisan” exuberance, Gov. Polis either forgot or disregarded the long list of excellent reasons to not issue his original statement.

Gov. Polis, who also has a reputation for being candid about mistakes when he makes them, will have plenty of chances to fully walk this gaffe back between now and when RFK Jr. is expected to face the scrutiny of confirmation in January–assuming that process isn’t short-circuited by a compliant Senate.

You’ll hear an audible sigh of relief from public health experts across the state and nation when he does.

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24 thoughts on “Gov. Polis Partly Walks Back Ill-Advised RFK Jr. Love”

  1. He can walk back all he wants, but parroting "make America healthy again" on the evil bird platform is a cardinal sin, especially in a time when bird flu oughta be on our radar screens.

  2. Interestingly, Polis’s walk-back did not touch on the very specific issue he touched on in his original tweet.  Mandates.

    I am personally opposed to blanket government mandates.  It’s a complicated issue.  But in Polis’s walk-back, he sidestepped the actual issue he raised.

    In any case, by indicating any form of support for any of Trump’s insane and/or fascist appointments, Democrats show that they have a major gap in understanding the threat of the GOP, or understanding how to fight it.

  7. Let's see here.

    COVID was bioengineered to spare the Jews and Chinese?

    Check.

    Bill Gates put trackers in the vaccines?

    Check.

    HIV has nothing to do with AIDS?

    Check.

    Antidepresssants cause school shootings?

    Check.

    "5G" = mind control?

    Check.

    The "Great Reset" is real?

    Check.

    Wifi causes cancer and invites "toxins" into the brain?

    Check.

    And this is the maniac Polis wants to "make America healthy again." I've been a Polis supporter throughout his tenure as the state board of education member, House of Reps member, and governor, but that's that. Ol' Jared can go fuck himself.

  8. That was a really weak attempt to extract his foot from his mouth. One would think that someone who's been in politics as long as Polis has could do better. Then again, he was an idiot to have made the original statement of support.

    1. he was an idiot to have made the original statement of support.

       

      The statement was so tone deaf, so gushing, and so specific that I am leaning towards believing Polis doesn’t care.

  9. WTF, Polis?!?  

    He must be channeling his inner Aaron Rodgers, celebrity anti-vaxxer and one time potential Denver Broncos quarterback.  I once said that Rodgers was more dangerous than the Las Vegas Raiders player who killed someone in a drunk driving accident.  Rodgers' high profile would result in far more deaths due to people not getting the Covid vaccine.  Mark Kiszla told me that it was the most ridiculous comment he had heard in his journalistic life.  (I'm very proud of that.) I was happy that he published my comment and still stand by it today.  
    Now we have Polis promoting RFK Jr who will end vaccine research among many other lethal ideas that will result in countless needless deaths.

    Screw you Polis, and you can ride out on that Never Polis presidential campaign horse you rode in on.

    1. Sadly, Pam, Jared will continue to be welcome where his interests lie. 

      I have been a detractor of Gov. Polis almost from the beginning. His betrayal of the groups working to change oil and gas rules and methane emissions was dramatic, occuring almost overnight. When the company commencing drilling operations across the road from his driveway entrance abruptly shut down and went elsewhere, Polis dropped his support for our effort. Of course, the industry prevailed.

      I appreciate his recent effort to establish his lack of credibility and insensitivity,. He thinks like a rich guy…always has.

      1. Similarly, at least to date the Guv's office seems unable/unwilling to recognize the substantial problems with the two regulated investor-owned electric utilities in Colorado. Xcel, though by far the cheaper of the two, stumbles around with "planned" power outages (and proposed slush funds with ratepayer money) while Black Hills Energy blocks economic development in south-central Colorado (a high poverty area with a median household income at least 39% below the statewide median and even farther below the household income of the northern Front Range), with among the highest cost electricity in the state. Customers in the two investor-owned utility service terrtories cannot "go shopping" for cheaper power, though their counterparts in municipal electric utilities and rural electric co-ops can and have improved their costs by shopping for power on the wholesale market. On top of this, Black Hills has asked for a substantial rate increase (being fought right now) and admits that 66% of their meters are in disproportionately impacted communities, and that the service territory has LOST more than 500 businesses in a one-year period. Will be interesting to see what the PUC does with this one.

        1. Thanks for bringing that out, realist. Yes, Polis has been deafeningly silent on the issues of utility regulation and price-gouging. It's almost as f he identifies more with the energy profiteers than with consumers. 🫢

  12. "Polis heard from a whole lot of Colorado Dems…." I doubt he heard much at all thanks to the noise of so many progressive heads exploding. I worked a bit on stuff with Polis before he ran for governor. He does like to occasionally surprise and shock. I was surprised that he went in so heavy for RFK Jr., but he did walk it back. 

    1. The bell cannot be unrung.  Polis can walk back all he wants, but he's lost support that he would need for his higher ambitions.  Tots and pears to the spoilt little rich gov

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