RFK Jr. says Trump will recommend removing fluoride from drinking water

This article originally appeared as part of NPR’s 2024 Election Live coverage. For more election coverage from the NPR Network, go to our page with constant updates.

In an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep this morning, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that the Trump administration, which he will likely join, will recommend removing fluoride from the nation’s drinking water.

Kennedy, who endorsed Donald Trump in August, is part of the president-elect’s transition team and has asked for a health care role in the Trump administration. In October, Trump said he would give Kennedy a role in his administration, but it has not yet been determined.

“We don’t need fluoride in our water,” Robert F. Kennedy said at the conference. Morning Edition. “This is a very bad way to deliver this into our systems.”

Fluoride, a mineral that helps strengthen teeth and reduce tooth decay, has been added to drinking water in some areas of the United States since 1945, but decisions about whether to add fluoride are made at the local level. The federal government cannot make decisions on water fluoridation, but can make recommendations for or against its use and at what concentration. About 70% of the US population has access to fluoridated tap water.

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Kennedy also said one of his first priorities would be reviewing vaccine research. Kennedy has long been a critic of vaccines and vaccination requirements and once said that vaccinating a child against COVID-19 was “criminal medical malpractice.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children. Kennedy has also repeatedly stated that vaccines cause autism. despite overwhelming evidence that vaccines are not to blame.

“We are certainly not going to take vaccines away from anyone,” Kennedy said. “We are going to make sure that Americans have accurate information about vaccines and their safety.

Kennedy, who is associated with a long line of prominent Democrats, said the party is run by millionaires and no longer represents the wishes of working people but the elite class.

“The Republican Party is now the party of labor, the party of working people and the party of the American poor,” Kennedy said. “And these are the people who voted for Donald Trump, and these are the people he is going to keep his promises to.”