Newsmax largely followed the Trump Regime Media template in boosting Robert Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as HHS secretary, and that continued through the nomination process, starting with its talking heads:
- Rep. Mace to Newsmax: I Support RFK Jr. Due to Vaccine Injury
- Sen. Ron Johnson to Newsmax: RFK Jr. Is Pro-Science, Will Follow Facts
- Sen. Husted to Newsmax: RFK Jr. Can ‘Make America Healthy Again’
- Sen. Collins: Will Vote to Confirm RFK Jr.
Newsmax columnists played ball as well. Robert Zapesochny made a labored parallel to Kennedy’s uncle:
In his acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Sen. John F. Kennedy introduced the concept of the “New Frontier,” stating: “Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.”
Today, RFK Jr.’s equivalent of a “moon shot” is the pursuit of a deeper understanding of mitochondria and their role in chronic disease.
In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president, emphasizing that the chronic disease epidemic was the biggest reason for his endorsement.
After Kennedy was confirmed, Sally Pipes gushed in a Feb. 27 column:
RFK Jr. might not be a conventional choice for HHS Secretary. But the status quo has cost lives and money on an unacceptable scale. Kennedy should seize the opportunity to clear the bureaucratic obstacles that have made health care less efficient and more costly than it should be.
Neither Pipes nor Zapesochny mentioned Kennedy’s longstanding opposition to life-saving vaccines.
It did let a couple of dissenting viewpoints in, however. A Jan. 5 article noted that Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy called Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance “wrong,” and it published a wire article noting that members of Kennedy’s family called him a “predator” who cares only about power.