Trump doesn't rule out banning vaccines if he wins

Former President Donald Trump said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have a “big role in the administration” if he wins on Tuesday, telling NBC News in a phone interview that he was open to some of his more controversial ideas.

Kennedy, who ran for president as an independent this year before dropping his bid and endorsing Trump, has long spread conspiracies and falsehoods about vaccines and other public health matters. He has, for example, frequently claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, even though for decades, studies have debunked this theory.

Asked Sunday whether banning certain vaccines would be an option during a second term, the former president didn’t rule it out.

“Well I’m going to talk to [Kennedy] and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views,” Trump said.

Trump declined to talk about specific roles Kennedy might play in his administration, but in recent public appearances, Trump has made clear that he is envisioning a prominent role for him.

“He can do anything he wants,” Trump said during an event Thursday in Arizona.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, could be poised to play a central role in health if Trump is re-elected, according to NBC reporting. Rebecca Noble / Getty Images file

He said that Kennedy was “going to work on health and women’s health,” and two sources close to the Trump campaign have told NBC News that he might play a prominent role in battling “chronic childhood disease.”

On Friday, Kennedy tweeted that on its first day in office, a Trump administration would push to ban fluoride in water, claiming it is “industrial waste” that leads to problems like cancer and other diseases.

“Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds okay to me,” Trump said Sunday when asked about that plan. “You know, it’s possible.”

Major public health groups support water fluoridation, and health groups also emphasize that the practice is safe.

The Trump team has embraced Kennedy and some of his fringe views in recent days.

Last week, Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of the Trump transition team, praised Kennedy and questioned whether vaccines were “fine.”

On an episode of the “The Joe Rogan Experience” last week, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, also spoke about his own experience with the Covid vaccine, expressing skepticism about it.