WASHINGTON — After Pennsylvania health authorities announced that two unvaccinated people had died from measles-associated causes, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, to offer federal assistance. According to accounts from both men, the call turned heated.
“I was very, very blunt with him and I made very clear his actions and his rhetoric coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said at a press conference Tuesday. “That there’s real life consequences to spreading misinformation.”
He was referring to comments Kennedy made before he joined the Trump administration, casting doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, including the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, and to his continued mixed messaging on the importance of the MMR shot.
Kennedy’s recent social media remarks continue a pattern that’s been evident since he took on his role in the Trump administration: downplay the severity of the measles, dispute his role in spreading misinformation about vaccines, and attempt to focus attention elsewhere.
On Tuesday night, Kennedy didn’t back down. Instead, hee accused Shapiro of “gaslighting,” posting from his personal X account a link to The Highwire, a website operated by the anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree, that includes misinformation about vaccines. And he blamed declining pediatric vaccine rates on the Biden administration
