“I’ll Never Forget What RFK Jr. Did in Samoa”: Journalist Condemns Trump Nominee for Role in Measles Outbreak

Journalist Brian Deer, known for his coverage of the anti-vaccine movement, has published a scathing editorial in The New York Times criticizing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Deer holds Kennedy partly responsible for a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019, which claimed the lives of over 80 people, many of them young children.

“In November 2019, when an epidemic of measles was killing children and babies in Samoa, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who in recent days became Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — sent the prime minister of Samoa at the time a four-page letter,” Deer writes. In the letter, Kennedy falsely suggested that the measles vaccine itself might have caused the outbreak.

The reality, as Deer explains, was starkly different. The measles outbreak was not due to the vaccine but rather to a tragic error in 2018 when two Samoan children died after nurses mistakenly mixed expired anesthetic into their vaccine doses. Despite the safety of properly administered vaccines, Kennedy and other anti-vaccine advocates seized on the incident to stoke fear and distrust.

This fear led to a dramatic decline in Samoa’s vaccination rates. “Samoa’s vaccination rates had fallen to less than a third of eligible 1-year-olds,” Deer recounts. By the time the 2019 outbreak began, 16 people—many under the age of 2—had already died. The epidemic ravaged the island, with families mourning over “heartbreaking little coffins” as measles caused brain swelling, pneumonia, and death.

The crisis ended only after an intensive door-to-door vaccination campaign restored immunization rates. But the damage was done. “The final number of fatalities topped 80,” Deer writes, emphasizing the human cost of Kennedy’s actions and rhetoric.

As Trump’s nominee for a major health leadership role, Kennedy’s track record in Samoa raises significant concerns. His role in spreading misinformation and undermining public health measures during a crisis casts doubt on his suitability to oversee the nation’s health policies.

Deer’s editorial serves as a powerful reminder of the consequences of vaccine misinformation and highlights the stakes of appointing leaders with a history of undermining science-based health initiatives. “I’ll never forget what RFK Jr. did in Samoa,” Deer concludes, urging vigilance as Kennedy’s nomination moves forward.