President Donald Trump may have come to the conclusion that Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and extreme health positions have descended into the realm of the ridiculous, according to journalist Michael Wolff in an appearance on The Daily Beast’s “Inside Trump’s Head” podcast.
“I know that he’s been calling around and saying to people, you know, ‘I hear people say, Bobby is crazy. You think he’s crazy?'” Wolff told his co-host Joanna Coles. “And you know the answer he wants.”
The president appears to be creating space between himself and the cabinet official he selected. A report from the Wall Street Journal published the previous week indicated White House staff members are increasingly concerned that Kennedy’s initiatives may harm Republican contenders in the 2026 midterm elections, a contest already anticipated to pose significant challenges for the GOP.
This reported criticism from the president arrives while Kennedy’s attack on mainstream medical science keeps producing escalating scandals—from promoting discredited vaccine claims to removing experienced scientists from federal health institutions. During his time in office, measles infections have climbed to their highest frequency in over 30 years, with the United States documenting more than 2,286 confirmed infections in 2025, the greatest number since the illness was deemed eliminated in 2000. Through late March 2026, the CDC documented over 1,575 further confirmed infections.
Since assuming his position, Kennedy has methodically torn down critical elements of the nation’s public health system. During June 2025, he terminated all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, asserting a “clean sweep” was necessary to “reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.” He removed CDC Director Susan Monarez in late August following her refusal to automatically approve vaccine policy modifications and dismiss senior personnel. Lawyers for Monarez characterized the dismissal as politically driven, stating she “chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda.”
During his service, the health secretary has advanced increasingly outlandish medical hypotheses. Without providing evidence, Kennedy asserted that nations with the greatest acetaminophen use exhibit the highest autism rates. He further asserted he had viewed a TikTok video showing a woman “gobbling Tylenol” who delivered a “baby in her placenta.” Based on these unverified assertions, Trump himself later advised expectant mothers and parents to avoid acetaminophen.
Following Kennedy’s instructions, the CDC modified its website to contradict the prevailing scientific consensus that vaccines do not trigger autism. His personally selected vaccine advisers have raised concerns about immunizing infants against hepatitis B, while Kennedy expressed skepticism regarding the measles vaccine and advocated for unverified therapies. “This was everybody’s fear about having RFK Jr. as our HHS secretary,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and director at the Pandemic Center at Brown University.
Over 1,000 present and past HHS staff members signed an open letter declaring Kennedy is “compromising the health of this nation” and calling for his departure. Confidence in the CDC among the public has fallen to its weakest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A shooting attack at the CDC’s Atlanta facilities on August 8, 2025, resulted in the death of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose. The attacker, driven by vaccine skepticism, discharged over 180 rounds into CDC structures. Previous CDC staff members attributed blame to Kennedy’s incendiary language and false information for contributing to the violent incident.
Tension between Trump and Kennedy allegedly escalated following Trump’s signing of an executive order on February 18, 2026, activating the Defense Production Act to
prioritize domestic production of glyphosate-containing herbicides. The action shocked Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) adherents, considering that Kennedy had earlier secured almost $289 million in a lawsuit against Monsanto on behalf of a man who asserted his cancer resulted from Roundup, the commercial name for glyphosate formulations.
A report issued in May 2025 by Kennedy’s own MAHA Commission observed glyphosate and atrazine detected in the bloodstream of children and expectant mothers at “alarming levels.” However, the follow-up strategy document omitted any reference to glyphosate, and the Trump administration sided with Bayer in an ongoing Supreme Court matter that could wipe out thousands of legal actions claiming Roundup triggers cancer. Oral proceedings are set for April 27, 2026.
MAHA followers responded with outrage, interpreting the action as a repudiation of Kennedy’s professed values as the 2026 midterm elections approached. Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, called the order “a bigger middle finger to every MAHA mom.”
In May 2025, Kennedy declared that the federal CDC would discontinue recommending COVID-19 booster vaccinations for healthy children and pregnant women, leading major medical organizations to resist the modification. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists continue to recommend vaccination for these groups despite the CDC’s altered guidance. Kennedy also announced newly appointed members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, continuing his focus on the developmental disorder despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting his theories about its causes.
The alleged presidential dissatisfaction with Kennedy indicates possible boundaries to how extensively Trump will permit his health secretary’s program to advance. At the same time, Republican opposition to Kennedy’s appointees has intensified. Senator Bill Cassidy, who provided a crucial vote to confirm Kennedy, has openly criticized him regarding mRNA vaccine funding reductions. Nevertheless, Kennedy has avoided the series of terminations that just swept through the Department of Homeland Security, making his position in the administration unclear as Republican resistance grows.