Copyright The Boston Globe
With about 1,000 people in attendance, members of the group reveled in its success at its annual convention in Austin on Saturday and Sunday and mapped out plans for the growth of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. MAHA, which Kennedy has pitched as aimed at combating childhood chronic disease, has proved to be a disruptive force in national and local politics. Conference participants said they want to keep up MAHA momentum in the coming year, while Kennedy still holds power. Among their most prominent goals is eliminating school vaccine mandates in a state-by-state campaign. Kennedy himself did not attend the event, but his wife, the actor Cheryl Hines, received loud applause at a dinner Saturday night and headlined a roster of luminaries of what supporters call the “medical freedom” movement: Florida’s top health official who recently said the state would move to end most school vaccine mandates, along with an array of physicians and activists who have been discredited by mainstream medicine. Bigtree formerly worked as Kennedy’s communications director during his presidential run and advised in his decision to join Trump’s campaign. Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) were originally slated to attend in person, but appeared via a video link amid the government shutdown negotiations. “There are doctors recommending injecting little babies. They don’t want to admit something they’ve done caused autism,” Johnson said to a standing ovation, urging attendees to “talk against the orthodoxy. Tell people the truth.” The senator’s sentiments echo remarks from Kennedy in the years before Trump named him secretary. Amid his long history of disparaging vaccinations, he has claimed immunizations “poisoned an entire generation of American children” and that doctors have “butchered all these children” by administering shots recommended by federal authorities. Health officials and vaccine experts have said Kennedy’s rhetoric is contributing to lower vaccine rates and disease outbreaks. Kennedy has repeatedly said he is not anti-vaccine and is seeking to give Americans transparency. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Merchandise on sale at the weekend conference varied from $25 infant onesies emblazoned with “unvaxxed unafraid,” $75 MAHA scarves and $20 hats that said “RFK JR WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING” (those sold out Saturday). The group Texans for Vaccine Choice, which advocates against immunization mandates, handed out pens shaped like syringes filled with blood that read “I call the shots.” The mission has gone from the “fringe into the forefront,” Children’s Health Defense advocacy and outreach manager Stephanie Locricchio said as she kicked off the conference. She asked attendees to reduce electromagnetic radiation exposure by putting their phones on airplane mode and turning off Bluetooth. Dozens of studies have shown that vaccines do not cause autism, but anti-vaccine advocates have gained a greater following amid a post-pandemic backlash to vaccine requirements, mask requirements and the closure of schools, businesses and public venues during the covid pandemic. Kennedy has also drawn in libertarians and liberals who have concerns about corporate interests that control America’s medical and food supplies. A Washington Post-KFF poll found 1 in 6 Americans have skipped or delayed vaccination, with American parents who chose to do so being more likely to home-school their children, be White and very religious, identify as Republican, or be under 35. However, the vast majority of Americans still support immunizations, and Republican lawmakers have been warned in recent months that the issue can be politically damaging. Despite potential political dangers, the leaders of Children’s Health Defense and MAHA-aligned groups say Republicans need to double down. “I’ve come to this anti-vax conference with a message: that we need to be more boldly anti-vax,” said Mark Gorton, the head of the MAHA Institute, a think tank for the MAHA movement. Gorton called for the elimination of the childhood vaccination schedule and removal of vaccines from the market. “Our job is to create a public opinion environment that gives the MAHA supporters in government the space to do their jobs,” Gorton said. As health secretary, Kennedy has slashed the governmental health workforce and overseen the firing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director who said he was “weaponizing public health,” as well as the removal of all members of an influential vaccination advisory committee. In response, medical groups have organized against his efforts to give Americans science-based vaccine advice while states have splintered along red and blue lines to give Americans their own vaccine advice. The head of Children’s Health Defense, CEO Mary Holland, said interest in the conference is “a catalyst for further development of the movement that I think will continue to grow.” At the same time, Holland attempted to position the anti-vaccine movement in a broader frame: “CHD is not anti-vax. We’re pro-informed consent,” she told The Post in an interview. “We’re not interested in people not having vaccines if they want it, but we think that, for the most part, truthful information isn’t provided, and everybody should have a choice.” Attendees and speakers highlighted their efforts to roll back vaccine requirements for schoolchildren. Such efforts have alarmed public health officials across the country amid outbreaks and declining immunity, which have led to a 33-year high of annual measles cases and the deaths of three people from measles-related complications this year. Peter Hildebrand, whose unvaccinated 8-year-old daughter Daisy died of measles-related complications in Texas this spring, said he would do everything in his power to protect his children from vaccines and try his best to never go to a hospital again. Children’s Health Defense had previously promoted the position that poor medical care was to blame for Daisy’s death. “Thank God for Donald Trump. Thank God for RFK Jr.,” he said to applause. “And thank God for CHD.” Leslie Manookian, a “health freedom” movement leader based in Idaho, highlighted a bill she had passed in her state as model legislation to remove medical mandates. “Pressure the federal government, the Trump administration, as much as possible, to give Bobby cover to actually do the work,” she said onstage. “The more noise we make, the more pressure we put out there to really hold their feet to the fire, the more I think it gives them an opportunity to navigate because this is just a pit of vipers that they’re dealing with.” Florida’s surgeon general, Joseph A. Ladapo, who came under fire for announcing his push alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to seek to end vaccine mandates in the state, spoke to the crowd about the importance of fighting for what they believe in. “God had me go to Harvard Medical School so I could eventually come out on the other side and say what I think is right,” Ladapo said. He also decried the mainstream media, saying, “I saw reporters from The Washington Post and the Atlantic that represent these forces that - I have nothing against them, to be clear - they represent forces who are working toward the enslavement of humanity.” Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of the Atlantic, told The Post in a statement: “In fact, The Atlantic is not working towards the enslavement of humanity, but I appreciate his concern.” While many celebrated the rise of Kennedy, some speakers revealed the division within the MAHA tent over whether Kennedy has gone far enough against vaccines. Some anti-vaccine activists have expressed concern that Kennedy has spent precious political time focusing on reducing ultraprocessed foods in the American diet. (The MAHA movement has multiple factions, including those that push for changes to vaccines, pesticides, food and medicine.) “We don’t want to hear about Froot Loops or doughnuts or anything else,” said Ray Flores, senior outside counsel for Children’s Health Defense. Douglas Cohen, a 31-year-old attendee interested in electromagnetic radiation and concerned it and vaccines could be used to control people, said he moved from New York to Florida in the wake of the pandemic. He spoke highly of several speakers who he said were willing to call out lies about the coronavirus. “It’s cool to see people you’ve seen online for years - it’s almost mythical,” he said. The booths of conference sponsors included “Blessed By His Blood,” which matches “mRNA tech-free blood donations to recipients”; ProgenaBiome, a company that analyzes people’s feces; Best EMF Products, which promotes products to protect against cellphone radiation; and a variety of other health freedom or anti-vaccine groups. Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Children’s Health Defense, noted onstage that the Department of Justice had filed a statement of interest in the group’s lawsuit against The Post and other media organizations alleging antitrust violations. The group, along with others, alleges suppression of what it claims is “wholly accurate and legitimate reporting” about vaccine danger. At the dinner and cocktails portion of the conference, Hines spoke with Russell Brand, the actor, podcaster and MAHA figure who has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges in Britain. The two sat onstage in front of an oversize “HELP MAKE THIS BOOK A NYT BESTSELLER” poster with Hines’s book on it, while Russell beseeched the crowd to each buy four books as “an act of rebellion and advocacy.” He went on to make a series of phallic jokes while asking Hines about her book. In an interview with The Post, Hines said, “I really support what MAHA is doing and CHD has been bushwhacking the path for a while now.” She added that the group has been listening to parents who said vaccines affected their children and investigating.
