Let's set the record straight because @RobertKennedyJr’s post is inaccurate and misleading and he is making claims that have been debunked repeatedly by actual scientists and doctors. Secretary Kennedy called me yesterday morning to ask whether Pennsylvania needed any additional support to respond to the measles outbreak. I told him I appreciated the call but that our Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Health had all the resources we needed to respond, including existing support from professional staff at the CDC and HHS.  I told him what would be most helpful is if he would join me in encouraging people to get vaccinated and stop spreading misinformation. He then launched into a tirade — talking about fetal tissue and blaming the previous Administration for this problem. He even told me it would be better if we went back to “natural measles.” Unfortunately at a time where I needed the top “health expert” in the nation to responsibly work with us to deal with this outbreak, he instead chose to go down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and false claims. To his claim about fetal tissue, that has been thoroughly discredited time after time by real doctors and trusted medical institutions like CHOP. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has an entire webpage devoted to this. They write: “Vaccines do not contain fetal cells. Some vaccines involve growing viruses in human cell cultures originally developed from two aborted fetuses in the 1960s. These cell lines are still going, so no new aborted fetuses are ever needed. Purification processes filter the vaccine during production, and no fetal tissue remains.”   But my conversation with him proved what many of us already knew:  Secretary Kennedy’s actions to dismantle public health agencies and his language that undermines confidence in vetted medical guidance are contributing to these kinds of outbreaks.  Just a few years ago, Secretary Kennedy was in Lancaster downplaying the severity of measles and saying that the cure was “chicken soup and vitamin A.” Before he held his current position, measles was virtually eliminated in the United States. As recently as 2024, there were only 285 cases of measles across the entire country over 12 months. This year, in just 8 months, there are nearly 400 cases of measles across 29 counties in Pennsylvania alone — and nearly 3,000 cases across the country.  In Pennsylvania, 70 people who have tested positive for measles have been hospitalized this year — and yesterday, our @PAHealthDept announced that two Pennsylvanians who tested positive for measles have died. According to doctors and medical experts, the MMR vaccine is the best way to protect yourself, your kids, and your community against measles. But we have seen vaccination rates decline on RFK’s watch.  The correlation is clear: Secretary Kennedy has stoked confusion amongst parents and others — and the result has been less protection from measles and more cases. As a dad, all I want is to protect our four kids. I know that’s how every parent feels. Parents have the right to make their own decisions about how to keep their kids safe and sort through the noise to figure out which information to trust.  So what I’d ask of every parent in Pennsylvania: take any information you get about vaccines and talk to a trusted health care provider about it before you make your decision. The most important conversation that needs to take place now is one that should happen offline, in the real world, between parents, their trusted health care providers, and other medical experts.

Let's be clear - none of the three HHS secretaries under Presidents Obama and Biden held an MD or PhD. Kathleen Sebelius (Obama, 2009–2014): Held a Bachelor of Arts (Trinity Washington University) and a Master of Public Administration (University of Kansas). She did not have a doctorate or medical degree. Sylvia Mathews Burwell (Obama, 2014–2017) did not possess a master's, PhD, or other advanced degree. Xavier Becerra (Biden, 2021–2025): Held a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Stanford University. He is an attorney, not a medical doctor or PhD holder. So - why has mainstream media made such a BFD about Kennedy not being a scientist or MD? Why do they continue to hammer at this?