The five rebels and health

Never has the appointment of a Secretary of Health caused as much controversy as that of Robert Kennedy Jr. The HHS (Health & Human Services) department, the American equivalent of a ministry of health, accounts for nearly 20% of the federal budget. Whoever holds this post controls 14 subdivisions or government agencies. He oversees and funds medical and scientific research through the NIH (National Institutes of Health). He controls the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical products and food through the FDA (Food & Drug Administration). He steers the prevention and monitoring of epidemics through the CDC (Center For Disease Control). He ensures access to care for the elderly or disadvantaged via Medicare and Medicaid. It is therefore truly colossal power that has just been entrusted to Robert Kennedy Jr.

His appointment has crystallised all the hopes for change of those who denounce the corruption of government agencies and call for public health to be called into question. A reform of the system, in particular of biological and medical research, which would undoubtedly have a worldwide impact. Robert Kennedy Jr immediately came up against the slander of the press and attacks from a majority of the scientific and medical community, as well as from members of the Democratic Party, against the man they portray as a “dangerous anti-vax conspiracy theorist”. He nevertheless survived a minefield, narrowly obtaining the approval of the Finance Committee and then of the Health Committee, until his appointment was confirmed by a Senate vote, 52 votes to 48, on Thursday 13 February 2025.

Promise, compromise, betray: such are the rules of the political game. He owes his approval by the Finance Committee, 14 votes to 13, only to the promises made to Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. A promise, for example, to keep the current safety surveillance system, notably for vaccines, and to continue to state that they are not the cause of autism. Genuine concessions, or political sleight of hand? Promises only bind those who believe in them… But we must nevertheless ask whether this new team, deployed by Trump to clean up public health, will have the means to match its ambitions.

It was Trump himself who laid the first mine on Robert Kennedy Jr’s road. The day after his inauguration, the president proudly launched a titanic AI development project, one of whose missions is to be a new mRNA vaccine platform against cancer. Doubt and frustration then followed the hopes of a real change of course. What kind of golden age does President Trump really want to pave the way for? A society of digital control, where patients are file numbers and care is provided by a machine? Donald Trump, moreover, has never expressed the slightest regret about the accelerated launch of the Covid‑19 injections through Operation Warp Speed in 2020, injections that continue to claim many victims around the world.

It is difficult for Kennedy to reconcile his personal convictions – on abortion, water fluoridation and above all the lack of vaccine safety – with a political line defined by the White House, and with politicians and officials under the influence of the health industry lobby, which funds them. This double pitfall became clear during the Senate hearings.

So can we announce a genuine revolution in American health policy thanks to the arrival of “Kennedy’s men” in key positions? How much room for manoeuvre will they have? Prof. Christian Perronne, author of the preface to Robert Kennedy Jr’s book The Real Anthony Fauci, guest at the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) gala and interviewed by BAM! by phone during this gala, remains optimistic but pragmatic. “We have to give them time to settle in. I think there are going to be changes. What is happening is already huge. These appointments are already a real revolution. After that, we will judge their actions”…

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Big Pharma’s bête noire

He has just been confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). A lawyer specialising in environmental law, he is also the symbolic heir of a great Democratic dynasty. He is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of the senator, attorney general and then presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, both assassinated when “Bobby Jr” was a child. After running himself in the 2024 presidential election, Robert Kennedy Jr joined Donald Trump’s camp in August 2024, in exchange for a promise from the future president to give him the opportunity to reform public health in the United States. Kennedy’s bet was that Trump, disillusioned with the men he had surrounded himself with during his first term and eager for real change, would be the only one capable of giving him this real opportunity^[1] to “drain the swamp” in Washington, the swamp within the regulatory agencies^[2].

According to Kennedy’s own statements, he agreed with the president on three major objectives^[3]. First, to eliminate the stranglehold of private interests and corruption in the public health agencies. “He asked me to eradicate corruption and end conflicts of interest within our regulatory agencies, this corporate capture that has turned these agencies into puppets of the industry they are supposed to regulate^[4].” This first objective is an indispensable condition for achieving the second, which is to refocus the federal agencies’ priority on scientific excellence and restore their transparency.

The third objective is particularly close to the heart of Robert Kennedy Jr, co-founder of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) association, which defends children’s health. It is about tackling the epidemic of chronic diseases that is destroying American society. This is no small challenge. 74% of Americans are obese or overweight and more than 50% suffer from one or more chronic diseases. There is an increase, sometimes exponential, in diabetes, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases, ADHD and autism, depression and addiction. 38% of adolescents are diabetic or pre-diabetic and 77% are considered unfit for military service. For Robert Kennedy Jr, it is “not only a national security problem, but also a moral and spiritual problem^[5].”

He mainly points the finger at “two culprits: ultra-processed foods and toxic chemicals, present in food, medicine and the environment^[6].” Claims supported in particular by 32 studies showing that ultra-processed foods cause multiple health problems^[7]. “We are being massively poisoned by Big Food and Big Pharma^[8]. Our children are steeped in a toxic soup of harmful chemicals^[9].” Hence the birth of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) programme, to restore America’s health, of which President Trump wants to see “measurable results within two years^[10].”

For Robert Kennedy Jr, vaccines are one of the components of the “toxic soup” that threatens children’s health. Numerous studies have established troubling links between vaccination and autism^[11], as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders^[12].

 

About vaccines… In the USA, the increase in autism diagnoses follows an exponential curve[13]. A peer-reviewed study published in January 2025 concludes that there is a 170% increased risk of autism, as well as a 212% increase in other neurodevelopmental disorders, in vaccinated children[14]. Something the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, continues to deny firmly. Yet an internal CDC document attests to a meeting during which speakers from the regulatory agencies and industry allegedly discussed how to hide embarrassing data. It must be said that with 72 injections recommended in the vaccination schedule for American children between 0 and 18, this is a market the pharmaceutical lobby is not prepared to lose. All the more so as the 1986 federal law on vaccine injuries[15] protects manufacturers against any lawsuit relating to adverse effects. A protection strengthened in 2011 by a Supreme Court ruling, which came out against lawsuits at the level of the federal states[16].

Vaccine safety is one of Robert Kennedy Jr’s hobby horses. But he himself admits that Donald Trump “does not want me to remove access to vaccines. In this country, we believe in freedom of choice. But we need to know the risks and benefits of everything we consume. For that we need good science, we need informed consent^[17]”.

Among the other toxic products in the new Health Secretary’s sights is the fluoridation of tap water. RFK Jr has already asked the president to stop adding fluoride to drinking water, after warning him of its neurotoxicity^[18].

Kennedy Jr was also among the opponents of the policy pursued by Anthony Fauci during the Covid‑19 “crisis”. Fauci, whose many compromises he catalogued in a book published in December 2021, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health. As early as May 2021, he had also asked the federal government to suspend the marketing authorisation of the “Covid‑19 vaccines”, calling them “the deadliest vaccines ever made^[19].” So he is keen to shed light on this affair. And the men who will assist him, if their appointment by President Trump is confirmed by the Senate, are just as keen as Kennedy Jr for the truth to prevail.

Jay Bhattacharya, the defender of freedoms

Appointed director of the NIH (National Institutes of Health), Jay Bhattacharya will control a colossal budget of more than 47 billion dollars^[20] for funding scientific, biological and medical research. Among the 27 institutes that make up the NIH is, for example, the NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), which oversees research on infectious diseases and was headed until December 2022 by Anthony Fauci, who was notably behind the funds allocated to EcoHealth Alliance for gain-of-function research on SARS‑COV‑2 in Wuhan.

A researcher at Stanford University, Jay Bhattacharya is a professor of medicine, economics and health policy research. An epidemiologist and economist of infectious diseases, he heads the Stanford Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. He is an open-minded man who believes in and practises dialogue.

He was one of the first to rise up against the health authorities’ handling of Covid‑19. As early as October 2020, together with two other renowned epidemiologists, he wrote the Great Barrington Declaration^[21], which has since gathered more than 940,000 signatures. In this open letter, he warned public health officials of the harmful consequences of widespread lockdowns, proposing as an alternative the focused protection of vulnerable people while keeping the rest of society open, favouring the development of herd immunity.

While a genuine scientific debate would have been necessary, NIH officials were instead alarmed by the noise caused by this declaration. Their e-mails (obtained under the Freedom of Information Act) revealed that they then felt the need to respond with “a quick and devastating published take down^[22]”, notably by describing Professor Bhattacharya and his co-authors as “fringe epidemiologists”^[23]. An accusation mocked by the man himself, through the creation of an essential science show entitled Science from the Fringe^[24].

A twist of fate: the “fringe” epidemiologist should find himself at the head of the world’s largest government funder of biomedical research. More than 300,000 researchers, 2,500 universities and many public and private bodies depend on NIH grants. Their role is therefore paramount in steering and controlling research.

Jay Bhattacharya, a defender of academic freedom and a scourge of pseudo scientific consensus, intends to restore trust in science and research by dividing decision-making centres, so as to avoid a monopoly of power in the hands of a small group of bureaucrats. It is also a way of stimulating excellence. Called to testify before the Congressional Committee on Covid, Prof. Bhattacharya had indeed denounced the censorship practised by “a small cabal of arrogant, petty and powerful bureaucrats”^[25], operating “more like dictators than scientists”^[26]. He had described their “acceptance of government censorship of scientific discussion” as the greatest current threat to democracy^[27], showing that the American government had been the main source of disinformation^[28].

Prof. Bhattacharya wants a commission, no longer political but scientific, to be able to investigate the Covid policies, which violated medical ethics, silenced scientists and imposed dangerous and devastating injections. “Censorship kills science and, in this case, I think censorship killed people”, he says, believing that an apology will have to be made to Americans^[29].

Marty Makary, Mr Natural Immunity

Dr Marty Makary is Donald Trump’s choice to head the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the American agency regulating food and medicines. Although considered the least controversial of Trump’s health picks, this appointment has nevertheless ruffled some feathers. “The FDA has lost the trust of Americans and has lost sight of its primary goal as a regulator”, the president explained. Before adding: “the agency needs Dr Marty Makary, a highly respected surgical oncologist and health policy expert, to change course”^[30].

This pancreatic cancer specialist had himself harshly judged the agency he is now to head. “Covid has allowed us to take a clear-eyed look at a failing FDA, bogged down in politics and bureaucracy”^[31]. Meanwhile Robert Kennedy Jr announced: “The FDA’s war on public health is about to end”. He had cited a list of products censored by the administration, such as stem cells, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, foods like raw milk and non-patentable natural benefits such as sun exposure, before issuing a warning. “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. preserve your records, and 2. pack your bags”^[32].

The FDA grants or refuses marketing authorisations for food and pharmaceutical products. This administration is often denounced for its compromises with the private companies it regulates and from which 45% of its funding comes^[33]. The practice of “revolving doors”, which allows former Big Pharma employees to obtain regulatory posts, and former officials to negotiate the end of their careers in the companies they regulated, fosters corruption. It will be remembered that it was the FDA which, when required under the Freedom of Information Act to provide its documentation on the safety of the Pfizer injections, asked for a delay of 75 years, before being forced by the courts to provide it within 8 months^[34]. The FDA was also behind a mendacious media campaign to ridicule the use of Ivermectin, describing this long-established medicine as an antiparasitic for horses.

A Harvard graduate in public health, head of the surgical department specialising in pancreatic cell transplantation at Johns Hopkins University, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, Dr Marty Makary has become known for numerous scientific publications and three NYTimes best-sellers, in which he denounced in particular the exorbitant cost of health care in the USA, medical errors and the lack of transparency. After initially supporting lockdowns and mask-wearing at the very beginning of the covid crisis, Marty Makary rose up against Anthony Fauci’s refusal to recognise the natural immunity acquired by part of the population. Citing 200 studies, including his own – 65 verified by the Lancet –, he argued: “all the studies conclude that natural immunity is at least as effective as vaccine-acquired immunity and probably more effective”^[35].

Without otherwise being opposed to vaccination, he had nevertheless reacted vigorously against vaccine mandates, deploring in particular that universities had “ignored the data and forced healthy young students to choose between the risk of myocarditis or being kicked out of their school, even if they had already acquired natural immunity”^[36]. Marty Makary had testified to this effect before the Congressional Committee

He supports the Make America Healthy Again platform proposed by Robert Kennedy Jr, and his own mission at the FDA will be “to evaluate the toxic products that poison food, as well as medicines and other pharmaceutical products (..) to tackle the epidemic of chronic diseases, especially in children”, in the president’s words^[37]. He campaigns for prevention and education rather than medication, which will not necessarily please the industry. “We have the most overmedicated and sickest population in the world and nobody is talking about the root causes”. Citing, for example: “Maybe we should talk about school meals, rather than putting children on anti-obesity drugs”^[38].

Dave Weldon, the vaccine makers’ nightmare

Chosen by President Trump to head the CDC (Center for Disease Control), Dr David Weldon is to hold the key post of disease prevention and control, despite not having a classic background in public health. On the other hand, this Florida general practitioner has long political experience. This Republican was elected to represent his State in Congress for seven consecutive terms, from 1995 to 2009, before returning to his medical practice.

During his time in the House of Representatives, Dr Weldon sat on several committees, including those on science and on health and social services. He stood out for his dissenting positions. In 2007, he notably proposed, unsuccessfully, a bill (the Vaccine Safety and Public Confidence Act) to ban thimerosal in vaccines. This mercury derivative is frequently used as a preservative in vaccine preparations. And although the CDC officially denies any causal link, it is suspected of being associated with the increase in cases of autism among children. Dave Weldon also called for the creation of an independent agency to carry out research on vaccine safety. He had then pointed the finger at conflicts of interest within the CDC and the FDA^[39].

His position, close to that of Robert Kennedy Jr on this subject, could therefore shake up the CDC, the federal agency that determines vaccination programmes. All the more so as the CDC’s coercive handling of Covid‑19 is strongly criticised. Its former director, Rochelle Walenski, herself admitted to having spread false or incomplete information^[40], in particular on the effectiveness and safety of the injections, or when speaking of a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” without having data on the vaccination status of hospitalised patients^[41]. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, there is now proof that the CDC directly orchestrated the censorship of opponents on social networks^[42]. Donald Trump himself, in appointing Dr Dave Weldon, officially denounced the CDC for having “engaged in censorship, data manipulation and disinformation”^[43].

Dave Weldon is also behind an amendment that bears his name and prohibits the Department of Health from funding programmes that discriminate against health workers who refuse to promote or perform abortions. He also took part in banning patents on human embryos. For the first time in the CDC’s history, the appointment of its director will have to be confirmed by the Senate, following an amendment to the finance law.

Aseem Malhotra, “no retreat, no surrender”

 

A renowned British cardiologist, Dr Aseem Malhotra was chosen by President Trump to be his adviser on health matters.

Aseem Malhotra is considered one of the world’s experts in Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), medicine that takes into account both scientific knowledge and clinical expertise, but also the specific characteristics and preferences of patients. An author and reviewer for numerous renowned scientific publications, Dr Malhotra was also one of the youngest health advisers to the British government. In addition to cardiology, he is particularly interested in the prevention of coronary heart disease, overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

A fervent practitioner and advocate of a healthy diet and lifestyle, he is the producer of a hard-hitting documentary entitled First Do No Pharm. In it he denounces the harmful influence of Big Pharma, which he accuses of having hijacked the health sector for its own profit. He warns against the excessive use of medicines, identified as the third cause of death worldwide, behind cardiovascular disease and cancer. He urges the population to take back responsibility for their own health, stressing the importance of diet (reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugar) and a healthy lifestyle. Dr Aseem Malhotra presented the diet he recommends, inspired by the food of the villagers of Pioppi in southern Italy, in his book The Pioppi Diet. A book that caused controversy in orthodox medical circles, as did his two other books, The 21‑Day Immunity Plan and A Statin‑Free Life.

In joining Trump’s team at the White House, he promised to tackle the leading cause of death in the USA, cardiovascular disease. He wants to make Americans aware of the problem of junk food and to fight it, in the same way as tobacco. He advocates banning ultra-processed foods from schools and hospitals and would like to introduce a tax on sugary snacks, sodas and ice cream. He will therefore be an essential cog in “the biggest operation the country has ever seen against Americans’ bad eating habits” announced by Trump.

It was a personal tragedy – the premature death of his father following the mRNA injection – that opened the British cardiologist’s eyes to the scandals linked to covid and gene injections. His father, himself a well-known and respected doctor, died of a heart attack in July 2021, with no prior history that could explain it. Following the autopsy and discussions with fellow researchers, Aseem Malhotra discovered the cardiovascular risks linked to the injections, a risk his colleagues had chosen to keep quiet so as not to lose Big Pharma funding for their research. Examining the British government’s official figures, he himself then noted an increase of 14,000 cases of cardiac arrest following the rollout of the “vaccines” in 2021, compared with the previous year^[44].

Realising that his father had been “the victim of the greatest white-collar crime in history”^[45], Aseem Malhotra swore to fight “for universal health justice, until my last breath”^[46]. And to honour his father’s memory, he made this promise: “your premature passing will not be in vain and we will obtain justice for those who suffered needlessly from an mRNA injection that should never have been approved and certainly not administered without informed consent”^[47].

A close friend of Robert Kennedy Jr, Aseem Malhotra will never stop demanding that “covid mRNA vaccines be suspended worldwide and that people injured by the vaccine receive real help”^[48]. Let us give him the last word, a reference to the law of Sparta, which he hammers home at the end of his posts on X: “no retreat, no surrender”. May Robert Kennedy Jr and his new team embody this motto.

KAro for BAM! (quotations translated back from the French)

---

Illustration by BAM!

 

Sources:

[1] RFK Jr: Teaming up With Trump, Pavel Durov’s Arrest, CIA, and the Fall of the Democrat Party

[2] RFK Jr at Tucker Carlson, Full Speech

[3] RFK Jr: Teaming up With Trump, Pavel Durov’s Arrest, CIA, and the Fall of the Democrat Party

[4] RFK Jr: Teaming up With Trump, Pavel Durov’s Arrest, CIA, and the Fall of the Democrat Party

[5] Hearing to consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., of California, to be Secretary of Health and Human Services | The United States Senate Committee on Finance

[6] RFK Jr: Teaming up With Trump, Pavel Durov’s Arrest, CIA, and the Fall of the Democrat Party

[7] Massive study identifies 32 harmful health conditions directly linked to the consumption of ultra‑processed food | Blaze Media

[8] RFK Jr at Tucker Carlson, Full Speech

[9] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - America: Past, Present, and Future, https://x.com/sensereceptor/status/1808365245704163696

[10] RFK Jr at Tucker Carlson, Full Speech

[11] https://x.com/autismactionnet/status/1887481937410793777

[12]‘Jaw‑dropping’ Study Finds Vaccinated Children Have 170% Higher Risk of Autism

[13] https://x.com/autismactionnet/status/1887481937410793777

[14] https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/study‑vaccinated‑children‑autism‑risk‑increase/

[15] The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and the Supreme Court’s Interpretation | Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association

[16] Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Protecting Vaccine Makers from State Lawsuits – Policy & Medicine

[17] RFK Jr at Tucker Carlson, Full Speech

[18] Wide Awake Media on X: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr: "The Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water." "Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease." "Fluoride

[19] Louisiana lawmakers ask Gov. John Bel Edwards to reject rule adding COVID vaccine to school shot list | News | theadvocate.com

[20] National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding: FY1996‑FY2025

[21] La Déclaration de Great Barrington

[22] Emails reveal how Fauci, head of NIH colluded to try to smear experts who called to end lockdowns | Daily Mail Online

[23] Emails reveal how Fauci, head of NIH colluded to try to smear experts who called to end lockdowns | Daily Mail Online

[24] Science From The Fringe (@SciFrTheFringe) / X or https://www.youtube.com/@scifromthefringe/videos

[25] https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1481147080299057153

[26] https://x.com/vigilantfox/status/1631018021496946707

[27] https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1587857277570060289

[28] Testimony to U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD Prof. of Heal

[29] https://x.com/drjbhattacharya/status/1575113848784244737

[30] https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113529561942926805

[31] Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary picked to lead Food and Drug Administration

[32] https://x.com/robertkennedyjr/status/1849925311586238737

[33] FDA at a Glance

[34] Judge scraps 75‑year FDA timeline to release Pfizer vaccine safety data, giving agency eight months - Washington Examiner

[35] Harvard Chan alum Marty Makary chosen to lead FDA

[36] Remarks to the Select Subcommittee on the Covid Pandemic Marty Makary M.D., M.P.H., Professor at Johns Hopkins University School

[37] https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113529561942926805

[38] Harvard Chan alum Marty Makary chosen to lead FDA

[39] Nominee For CDC Director, Weldon, May Push For Big Changes In Vaccine Policy

[40] Statistical and Numerical Errors Made by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention During the COVID‑19 Pandemic

[41] https://x.com/warclandestine/status/1669002086170652672

[42] https://x.com/texaslindsay_/status/1552438882222100480 and The C.D.C. Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects - The New York Times

[43] Nominee For CDC Director, Weldon, May Push For Big Changes In Vaccine Policy

[44] https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1574389600914534400

[45] https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1800099596368249040

[46] https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1800099596368249040

[47] https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1585599985860898816

[48] https://x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1849514037119537257