Local officials in Samoa don't blame Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's HHS pick, for measles deaths, but critics call his actions "harmful."

In 2019, a devastating measles outbreak erupted in Samoa. Eighty-three people, most of them children, died. Another 5,000 contracted the disease, many of which suffer long-term damage as a result. In total, around 3% of the small island’s population fell ill.

Samoa’s director general of health says Robert F. Kennedy Jnr’s comments in the United States Senate about the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa are a “complete lie”. The country’s health boss called the appointment of Kennedy as health secretary a “disaster for public health in the world”.

RFK Jr.'s testimony to senators clashed with past articles and letters he wrote concerning Samoan vaccine policy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed back on questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) about his vaccine views. “I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages” for people to get those vaccines,

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushed back on Democrats’ allegations that he contributed to a measles outbreak in Samoa, saying vaccination rates were already low when he visited in 2019. “I went there nothing to do with vaccines,

Caroline Kennedy, the former U.S. ambassador to Australia and daughter of President Kennedy, speaks against her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr's nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. "It's no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because Bobby himself is a predator,

The ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ star supported her husband at his grueling confirmation hearing Wednesday, just as she supported him during their 2019 trip to Samoa, where his meetings with

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced intense scrutiny Wednesday on Capitol Hill as he sought confirmation for the role of Health and Human Services secretary.

During his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, glossed over key details about his involvement in the 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa that killed 83 people, most of whom were unvaccinated children.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, once pitched the idea to run an experiment on the children of Samoa to see whether vaccines actually work.