RFK Jr aide tries to shut down measles deaths question, reporter fires back: ‘He’s a cabinet secretary!’

WASHINGTON, DC: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Thursday, October 15, faced questions about measles deaths in Pennsylvania as an aide attempted to stop a reporter from raising the issue during a Virginia healthcare event.

The reporter pushed back, insisting that Kennedy, the country’s highest-ranking health official, should be allowed to answer. Kennedy ultimately addressed the question, attributing the global measles outbreak to low vaccination rates during the Covid-19 pandemic and defending his administration’s response.

Reporter challenges aide as Kennedy is asked about measles deaths

The exchange took place after a healthcare roundtable at Tidewater Community College’s Regional Health Professions Center in Virginia Beach, where Kennedy appeared alongside Rep Jennifer Kiggans, a Republican representing Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.

The event focused on healthcare workforce shortages and efforts to recruit and retain medical professionals, particularly in rural and underserved communities. During the subsequent press briefing, a reporter began asking Kennedy about five measles deaths, potentially rising to six, in Pennsylvania.

Before the question could be completed, an aide intervened. “We're also not going to talk about measles,” the aide said. However, Kennedy indicated that he was willing to answer, but the reporter responded sharply to the attempt to shut down the question. “He's the highest-ranking health official in the country!” the reporter said. “He can answer that question! He's a cabinet secretary!”

Kennedy then addressed the outbreak, saying that the United States was experiencing a global measles resurgence. He attributed the spread to people remaining unvaccinated during the Covid-19 pandemic and said infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci had predicted that disruptions to measles vaccination programmes would lead to additional deaths.

“We've done better. We're having a global measles outbreak right now. It's all over the world, and the measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the Covid pandemic,” Kennedy said.

The HHS Secretary also claimed that the United States had recorded 4,000 measles cases that year, compared with 20,000 in Mexico, 7,000 in Canada and 135,000 in Europe. Kennedy argued that the figures showed the US was controlling the outbreak more effectively than other countries.

He also blamed Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, for the state's outbreak, accusing his administration of refusing a CDC Epi-Aid, a form of federal public health assistance.

Exchange draws criticism as Kiggans faces competitive reelection race

The exchange occurred as Kiggans campaigns for reelection against former Democratic Rep Elaine Luria in a closely watched race that could affect control of the House of Representatives.

Earlier in the press gaggle, a reporter asked Kiggans whether the war was affecting her reelection campaign. A moderator stopped the question, saying, “We're not going to talk about that. We're going to keep the questions on today's topic.”

A Christopher Newport University poll released on Wednesday, October 14, showed Luria leading Kiggans by 46 per cent to 43 per cent among likely voters. The three-point margin fell within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. The survey also found that voters trusted Luria more than Kiggans to handle healthcare by a 15-point margin.

Luria's campaign criticised Kiggans' appearance with Kennedy, saying she had voted with President Donald Trump “100 per cent of the time” on issues including higher costs and healthcare cuts. The campaign said that Kiggans was putting Trump ahead of Virginia's interests.