The Republican senator’s childhood bout with the disease has informed his ardent support for vaccines amid increasing skepticism of them within his party.

Polio, a disease that can cause lifelong paralysis, has been eliminated from the U.S. Experts fear a resurgence if lifesaving vaccines are revoked under the new administration

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is telling senators considering his nomination to lead the government’s health agencies he merely wants transparency about vaccines.

Aaron Siri, a lawyer advising Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he prepared to become health secretary, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to revoke approval of a polio vaccine that is used widely in the U.

“There are so many things about RFK Jr. that would seem to make him a Democratic appointee instead of a Republican one — but so much of that is overshadowed by his anti-vaccine views, which resonate with Republicans after the Covid experience,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president at the health policy think tank KFF.

Kennedy’s penchant for embracing conspiracy theories threatens to erode trust in public health initiatives and reverse decades of progress in combating preventable diseases.