Shapiro and Kennedy each took jabs at one another in the hours following the governor’s announcement on Tuesday that two individuals had died from measles infections in southeastern Pennsylvania amid one of the commonwealth’s worst outbreaks in three decades. Pennsylvania has 424 confirmed cases of measles across 28 counties in the commonwealth as of Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of those, nearly 200 are in Lancaster County.
Shapiro, on Wednesday morning, blamed Kennedy for the decrease in vaccination across the country and in Pennsylvania because of his skepticism toward the measles, mumps, and rubella or MMR vaccine.“Secretary Kennedy’s actions to dismantle public health agencies and his language that undermines confidence in vetted medical guidance are contributing to these kinds of outbreaks,” Shapiro said on social media. The measles outbreak in Pennsylvania comes as Shapiro is in the midst of his reelection campaign for governor in November. His rhetoric in the clash with Kennedy echoes that of other Democrats on the national stage who have been critical of the Trump administration’s handling of measles outbreaks across the country since 2025.
Let's set the record straight because @RobertKennedyJr’s post is inaccurate and misleading and he is making claims that have been debunked repeatedly by actual scientists and doctors.Secretary Kennedy called me yesterday morning to ask whether Pennsylvania needed any additional… https://t.co/Md2VLnEhOl— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) August 26, 2026
