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cover of episode RFK Jr. Is a Feature, Not a Bug

RFK Jr. Is a Feature, Not a Bug

2025/1/31
logo of podcast What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future
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Dan Diamond
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Lizzie O'Leary
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Dan Diamond: 我认为,提名 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 担任卫生部长并非因为他具备医疗政策方面的专业知识,而是因为他被视为一位不受既有体制束缚的改革者。他是一位 70 多岁的活动家,主要关注环境法。他涉足医疗保健领域是为了挑战既有权威,例如质疑大型制药公司和疫苗。他并没有深入研究医疗保险、医疗补助以及其他许多属于卫生与公众服务部(HHS)管辖的、总额达 2 万亿美元的项目。因此,他之所以能出任这一职位,并非因为他是一位医疗专家,而是因为他被认为是一位改革者,不受现有体系的束缚,可以扭转美国糟糕的健康状况。 此外,特朗普政府希望通过白宫来制定许多政策。因此,Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 对医疗保险的看法或 Pete Hegseth 对国防预算的看法可能并不重要。特朗普政府中一些不为人所知的官员正在制定该政府的计划,而那些曾经拥有很大自主权的内阁部长们,未来几年可能更多地充当特朗普议程的橡皮图章。 Lizzie O'Leary: RFK Jr. 过去曾发表过许多质疑疫苗有效性的言论,这与他在听证会上声称支持疫苗接种的说法相矛盾。他创立的儿童健康防御组织是美国最著名的反疫苗组织之一。他多次质疑疫苗的价值,并在冠状病毒疫苗拯救了许多人的生命时,声称该疫苗正在造成大规模伤害。多年来,他反复质疑疫苗的有效性。即使他在参议院听证会上坚持自己支持疫苗接种,并为自己的家人接种疫苗,但这并不能否定他多年来在另一方面的质疑和倡导。 民主党议员在听证会上特别关注 RFK Jr. 五年前对萨摩亚的访问。萨摩亚曾发生过一起悲剧,两名儿童因疫苗制备不当而死亡。RFK Jr. 和其他疫苗怀疑论者抓住这一事件,称其为疫苗潜在危机的例子。RFK Jr. 访问了萨摩亚,会见了反疫苗活动家。几个月后,萨摩亚爆发了大规模麻疹疫情,约 5700 人感染麻疹,83 人死亡。因此,他对疫苗接种的质疑是可以理解的。但他似乎也难以回答其他问题,例如共和党参议员兼医生的 Bill Cassidy 提出的问题,他似乎混淆了医疗补助和医疗保险这两个截然不同的项目。

Deep Dive

Chapters
RFK Jr.'s nomination for health secretary is analyzed, focusing on his lack of health policy expertise and the Trump administration's potential aim to control health policy from the White House. His inexperience might be a calculated move to shake up the healthcare establishment.
  • RFK Jr.'s lack of health policy expertise
  • Trump administration's potential aim to control health policy from the White House
  • RFK Jr.'s nomination as a potential strategy to disrupt the healthcare system

Shownotes Transcript

Tapped by Trump for the role of health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presents himself as someone willing to say what other politicians won’t. But during his Senate confirmation hearings, both Democrats and Republicans questioned his previous statements about vaccines—and questioned whether he even knows what the job he’s trying to get entails. But his nomination signals that maybe it isn’t about vaccines - it’s about wanting to blow up the whole healthcare establishment. 

Guest: Dan Diamond, White House correspondent for The Washington Post

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Podcast production by Evan Campbell, Patrick Fort, and Cheyna Roth.

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