Ahead of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s U.S. Senate nomination hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), protesters gathered in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) headquarters on the edge of Emory University’s campus on Feb 4. to protest the nomination.
The decision to nominate Kennedy to lead HHS was met with criticism, as he has promoted anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and disinformation related to public health in the past. However, Kennedy seems on track to become health secretary, with the Senate Finance Committee approving his nomination along party lines and setting him up for a full Senate confirmation vote in the near future.
The small group of protestors outside the CDC voiced their fears about the future of public health in the United States and spoke out against the “fascist” ideology they believe the Trump administration and the Republican Party are implementing. Supporters affiliated with coalition organization Refuse Fascism led the protest with signs saying, “In the name of humanity we refuse to accept a fascist America” and “No RFK Jr.”
One sign depicted Trump dressed in a Ku Klux Klan hood beneath the phrase “Mein Trumpf,” in reference to Adolf Hitler’s manifesto, “Mein Kampf.” Additionally, protesters chanted and cheered phrases such as “No Trump, no RFK, no fascist U.S.A.,” as cars drove by, some honking in approval.
An organizer for the event, Charles Abrams, spoke about defending public health and science against Kennedy’s rhetoric.
“RFK is definitely putting forward an anti-scientific approach, and that is really deadly when it comes to public health — not only here but all around the world,” Abrams said. “It goes in line with Trump’s overall policies of pulling out of the World Health Organization, cutting off funding for USAID and his overall attack on rational thinking.”
Abrams remarked that Kennedy is willing to yield to Trump’s policies no matter Kennedy’s own beliefs or previous views, making him fully complicit.
One protestor read a statement from someone who had contracted polio before there was a vaccine. The polio survivor criticized Kennedy’s stance on vaccines, recalling that the nationwide distribution of the first polio vaccine had “essentially wiped out” polio.
“We cannot have such a person in charge of the nation’s health,” the polio survivor wrote. “It’s worse than dangerous.”
Another protestor read a statement from an unnamed public health professional working at HHS.
“This administration has already backed policies that are anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Black and anti-immigrant,” the statement said. “Naming RFK as the head of HHS only furthers the harm to the health and well-being of humanity.”
A group of Emory students found their way to the protest from a flier they saw posted in the Dobbs Common Table. Jesse Stephens (28C) said that Kennedy does not reflect the interests of the people, regardless of political party.
“The purpose of public health is public safety and the welfare of the citizens,” Stephens said.
“It’s supposed to be one of our guaranteed rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”
Likewise, Colin Connery (28C) criticized new CDC policies under Trump which he said are hurting public health. He added that it was important to protest the Trump administration, calling some of its policies “Nazi-esque.”
“I can’t just stand by idly and watch this happen,” Connery said. “That’s why it’s good to get out, and change happens at the grassroots. So here we are.”
Stephens specifically criticized Kennedy, emphasizing that Kennedy is not “the answer” to the United States’ health issues.
“Someone running our health and taking money away from research that is based in science and taking away from things like vaccines that have … hundreds of years of precedence … it makes no sense,” Stephens said. “It’s lunacy, in my opinion.”
