Robert Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine claims aren’t just bullshit, they’re dangerous bullshit

BY KEVIN SANCHEZ

Editor’s Note: Bad Takes is a column of opinion and analysis.

The late John F. Kennedy’s nephew, Robert Kennedy Jr., announced his run for president in April and, earlier this month, enjoyed a three-hour misinformation-sucking session with a certain dietary supplement salesman based in Austin.

By the numbers, more Homo sapiens catch said salesman’s show, The Joe Rogan Experience, than any other podcast on Earth. Rogan generates hundreds of millions of dollars for his Big Tech daddy, Spotify, a multibillion media platform which has abandoned its stated policy against “dangerous false or deceptive medical information that poses a threat to public health.”

During a recent installment of his show, Rogan permitted Robert Kennedy’s busted sewer main’s-worth of hazardous falsehoods to gush out, un-fact-checked — all over his millions of subscribers.

During his appearance, Kennedy said getting the Hepatitis B vaccine only makes sense if you’re a “really seasoned prostitute” or engaged in “compulsive homosexual behavior.” He also said “not one” of the vaccines on the recommended schedule “has ever been tested in a placebo-controlled trial.”

“The Spanish Flu was not a virus,” he further asserted, claiming that there’s “good evidence” the tens of millions of deaths during the 1918 influenza pandemic were — you guessed it — “vaccine-induced.”

Predictably, Kennedy asserted that the US “spent $16 trillion on the lockdown” and “got nothing for it.” Regarding those of us who got vaccinated against COVID-19, he predicted, “You’re more likely to get sick” because it “does the opposite.” He also blamed COVID vaccines for “beautiful children dying on playing fields,” and suggested that early AIDS treatments killed more patients than AIDS itself.

And, not neglecting his No. 1 hit, Kennedy claimed vaccines cause autism and make kids “retarded.” That’s his use of the dated, offensive term, not ours, by the way.

All of this hokum has been ably debunked by credible sources elsewhere, but let’s isolate just one of Kennedy’s most egregious.

“They had to discredit Ivermectin, because a federal law says you cannot issue an emergency use authorization to a vaccine if there’s an existing medication,” he told Rogan.

Who is “they?” If he means the Food and Drug Administration, that agency informed the Associated Press that an “available treatment for COVID does not preclude the FDA from authorizing a vaccine.” After all, in 2020, the FDA approved convalescent plasma and hydroxychloroquine, yet that in no way threatened Operation Warp Speed.

This highlights an indelible feature of conspiracism: that the claim often contains grains of truth. The relevant statute — 21 US Code § 360bbb–3 — does stipulate the Secretary of Health and Human Services should only authorize a medicine for emergency use if “there is no adequate, approved, and available alternative.” But, clearly, anything less than a virtual cure for COVID would be inadequate since Americans were dying by the thousands weekly.

Notice also the skipping over of blatant contradictions. Kennedy went on to denounce the FDA for approving Remdesivir, an antiviral medication, to treat COVID. But wait. Why would the FDA approve that drug if it would legally hamstring it from rolling out vaccines?

Rogan never asked that rather obvious question.

In the throes of the pandemic, Kennedy compared mitigation measures to the Holocaust, stating during an anti-vaxxer rally in Washington, D.C., that the Nazis tested vaccines on Jews and others in concentration camps.

“Even in Hitler’s Germany you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” Kennedy claimed. Whereas, “none of us can run” from vaccine requirements.

In reality, the Nazis allowed diseases to run rampant in the ghettos and concentration camps, and Anne Frank likely died of typhoid fever at Bergen-Belsen. There’s an ethical galaxy of difference between trying to save people and trying to exterminate them.

Before the interview was over, Kennedy and Rogan smeared world-renowned Houston pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez, who has dedicated his career to developing patent-free vaccines for poor countries, bypassing Big Pharma’s stranglehold on the market. Kennedy accused Hotez of “made-up science,” and Rogan challenged him to debate Kennedy for $100,000.

When Hotez declined, Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk joined the pile-on, claiming the doctor was “afraid.” Hotez was later stalked outside his home by rightwing provocateurs.

Refusing to entertain cranks is not a sign of cowardice, but discretion.

If only Kennedy were simply a crank of the harmless variety.

“Kennedy’s brand of extreme anti-vaccine activism can have deadly consequences,” science communicator Edward Nirenberg and physician and professor Gavin Yamey wrote in Time Magazine last week. “In

June 2019, he visited Samoa, appearing alongside local anti-vaccine activists. Later that year, a measles outbreak resulted in 83 preventable deaths, most of which were in children under 5 because of poor uptake of the MMR vaccine.”

In the contiguous United States too, we’re again experiencing outbreaks of diseases we thought left in the previous century.

Kennedy’s claim to fame — beyond his political lineage — is as an environmental lawyer, and he was not wrong to claim on Rogan’s show that “our children are swimming around in a toxic soup.”

On June 1, a study in the Annals of Global Health reported that internal memos dating to the 1970s revealed DuPont and 3M knew so-called “forever chemicals” such as those in Teflon were “toxic when inhaled and ingested” 40 years before the science community.

“[Yet corporate entities] failed to report their findings to EPA as required,” the study authors concluded. “In some cases, industry executives were explicit that they ‘wanted this memo destroyed.’”

That’s a genuine conspiracy. As of 2015, safe levels of these chemicals in our water systems were exceeded by factors of 100 in 27 states, with no enforceable federal limits yet established.

If one were slightly paranoid, one might wonder if it’s not in the interest of wealthy elites to amplify tragic farces such as those propagated by Kennedy as a smoke screen to hide corporate malfeasance.

Crying wolf when there is none injures the noble environmental causes Kennedy initially championed as well as the urgently needed push to detoxify the places we live.

Special Event

An Evening With George Takei

The Tobin Center boldly goes where it has never gone before with its latest special guest: George Takei. The august actor, author and activist’s career spans more than 60 years and features myriad stage and screen roles. However, Takei is best known for his potrayal of Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek series — an icon of early Asian American representation in media. Takei’s work goes beyond his most iconic role, though. He’s also a forceful advocate for those facing injustice, which he’s experienced first as a child in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II and later as a gay man in the United States. Takei brings his wealth of life experience to the Tobin Center stage in a time when fighting anti-Asian hate and attacks on LGBTQ+ rights is all the more important. $35-$150, 7:30 p.m., H-E-B Performance Hall at Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 100 Auditorium Circle, (210) 223-8624, tobincenter.org. — Dean Zach lead roles. Founded by Jose DeHoyos, Kristi Waters and Gilbert Lopez, the Players at the Pointe focus on bringing LGBTQ-related theatrical performances to the San Antonio community. With the original sitcom following the lives of four women of a certain age all living together, it’s no surprise The Golden Girls garnered a devoted gay following. Besides, the sitcom’s then-taboo themes and subject matter often made for interesting TV viewing. Who can forget the episode where Blanche confuses the word “lesbian” for “Lebanese?” The Players’ show parodies that episode as well as other moments that paved the way for LGBTQ-related discussions on sitcom TV. As anti-LGBTQ lawmakers in Texas and other states look to crush hard-fought rights, the Players at the Pointe’s spoof reminds us of the importance of laughter, community and in keeping our “chosen families.” $20, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday, Woodlawn Pointe, 702 Donaldson Ave., woodlawnpointecenter. org. — Marco Aquino the LaLa Ri experience to San Antonio. $20-$25, 10:30 p.m and midnight, Bonham Exchange, 411 Bonham, table reservations by text only to (210) 3864537, facebook.com/reylopezentertainment. — Dalia Gulca

FRI | 06.30SUN | 09.03

ART ‘STILL BREWING ART’

For more than two months, the San Antonio Art Museum’s “Still Brewing Art” exhibit will showcase artifacts reflecting the building’s earlier life as the Lone Star Brewery. The downtown facility was the first large

THU | 06.29 mechanized brewery in Texas and a highlight of the Golden Age of American Brewing in the late 19th century. Now, through this exhibition, San Antonio residents will have the opportunity to see rare pre-Prohibition objects from this legendary brewery, in addition to old photographs, renovation plans and more. $10-$20, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, June 30-Sep. 3, San Antonio Museum of Art, 200 W. Jones Ave., (210) 978-8100, samuseum.org. — Colin Houston

SAT | 07.01SUN | 08.06

THEATER

THE LIGHTNING THIEF: THE PERCY JACKSON MUSICAL

This summer, Hemisfair will transform into Mount Olympus as the Magik Theatre stages The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. The musical is based on the first book in the bestselling young adult series penned by San Antonio native Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief unfolds a story of teenage angst and discovery wrapped up in a mock-Greek epic. It follows Percy Jackson (played by James Cazares), a teenage New Yorker diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia who discovers that his father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. On a search for Zeus’ master lightning bolt, Jackson undertakes an odyssey that whisks him from Camp Half-Blood to the Underworld to the infamous Lotus Hotel and Casino. Along the way, he befriends the satyr Grover (Ian Eller) and demigod Annabelle (Izabella Montes), the daughter of Athena. The musical features a rollicking original rock score and lyrics from Broadway composer Rob Rokicki and a book by Joe Tracz. The Magik’s production is directed by Anthony Runfola. Guests can experience the magic in-person from July 1-Aug. 6, including special ASL-interpreted, sensory-friendly and pay-what-you-wish performances scheduled for late July. $18.80-$33.50, 2 p.m. Thursday, 7 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, July 1-Aug. 6 (additional showtimes available online), Magik Theatre, 420 S. Alamo St., (210) 227-2751, magiktheatre.org. — DZ

SUN | 07.02

SPECIAL EVENT

Armed Forces River Parade

On the 160th anniversary of the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, a flotilla of boats and floats will wend their and the U.S. Air Force Band of the West, featuring Top Flight. Like at any good Independence Day gathering, there will be food — furnished by an all-American diversity of local vendors and food trucks. From classic Fourth of July fare like burgers, hot dogs and BBQ, to San Antonio favorites like tacos and chicken on a stick, to refreshing summer coolers like aguas frescas, mangonadas and raspas — there will truly be everything under the sun. The party celebrating our nation’s independence will also feature free-to-attend wrestling matches from noon-5 p.m. hosted by Texas Wrestling and Entertainment. At 7 p.m., the Welcome Salute, featuring San Antonio city council members, Bexar County commissioners and distinguished local guests, will kick off the evening program. Finally, two hours later at 9 p.m., the skies above the Woodlawn Lake lighthouse will explode with fireworks for twelve minutes of glory, ecstasy and color. Guests are encouraged to bring copious amounts of water, protection against the sun and lawn chairs and blankets for seating. Free, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Woodlawn Lake Park, 1103 Cincinnati Ave., saparks.org. — DZ

WED | 07.05

way down the River Walk in the Armed Forces River Parade. Decked out in red, white and blue, the floats will honor all six branches of the armed forces and adhere to this year’s theme — “Heart, Spirit and Soul.” During the 40-minute display of patriotism, the river will shine with uniformed representatives from the city’s military facilities as well as local businesses and nonprofits who support active-duty and retired forces. Last year’s parade featured military-grade inflatable rubber Zodiacs, a papier-mâché replica of JFK’s PT-109 boat and live music from active-duty choirs and brass bands. Expect much of the same fun this Fourth of July weekend. Free, 6-7 p.m., San Antonio River Walk and Arneson River Theatre, 418 Villita St., thesanantonioriverwalk.com. — DZ

TUE | 07.04

SPECIAL EVENT

H-E-B FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

This Fourth of July, San Antonians can join in the fun at Woodlawn Lake Park, where the city will hold its Official Fourth of July Celebration. The annual event is presented by the San Antonio Parks Foundation and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Carnival games for all ages will be held throughout the event in conjunction with live performances from Sonora Hechicera, an all-female cumbia band,

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: WERQ THE WORLD

Haters be advised, there is a Category Five Glam Storm headed toward the Alamo City. RuPaul’s Drag Race’s latest Werq the World tour will feature a number of Drag Race legends as well as yet-to-be-announced Season 15 finalists. The tour’s rotating lineup showcases figures from throughout the pop-

Reminder:

ular TV drag contest show’s history, from fan favorites and Drag Race All Stars including Jujubee and Laganja Estranja to more recent contestants such as Asia O’Hara, Deja Skye and season 14 runner-up Lady Camden. With a show publicized as “the biggest drag show in the world,” fans in San Antonio who are 18 and up should have more fireworks to look forward to after their Fourth of July celebrations. $55 and up, 8 p.m., Majestic Theatre, 224 E Houston St., (210) 226-3333, majesticempire.com — CH

Although live events have returned, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us. Check with venues to make sure scheduled events are still happening, and please follow all health and safety guidelines.

FRI | 07.07SUN | 09.03

ART

‘UNMOORING,’ ‘STADTWALD’ AND ‘THE DIRECT PATH’

A trio of solo exhibitions at the Contemporary at Blue Star this month showcases the great variety of media and diversity of themes explored in the works of three contemporary artists, particularly since the pandemic. In the oil paintings and stark charcoal portraits of “Unmooring,” San Antonio-based artist Brittany Ham explores the isolating effects of lockdown in conjunction with the ruptures of childbirth and early motherhood. In the enigmatic, quiet photographs of “Stadtwald,” Austin-based artist Adam Schreiber captures the forgotten, desolated corners of Berlin. What’s more, his photos of mysterious singular and grouped objects make the viewer question the difference between what they are seeing versus what they are perceiving. Finally, sculptor Michael Velliquette constructs miniature palaces of pulp with the incredibly intricate paper sculptures of “The Direct Path.” His multilayered and multicolored “structural collages” are as elaborate and as meditatively created as the building architecture we are used to — just on a much smaller scale. The three exhibitions will open during the Contemporary’s monthly First Friday open house, offering guests the perfect opportunity to step in on a whim and experience wonders. Free, 6-9 p.m. Friday, July 7, noon-5 p.m. Wednesday, noon-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 7-Sep. 3, Contemporary at Blue Star, 116 Blue Star, (210) 227-6960, contemporarysa.org. — DZ

TUE | 07.11

FILM

The Karate Kid

Fans of ’80s cinema classics take note: Slab Cinema is presenting the 1984 hit The Karate Kid in a free outdoor showing. The riveting underdog tale follows Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) as he grows under the tutelage of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) and competes against his unrelenting tormentors from the Cobra Kai dojo in a karate tournament. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnic blankets and lawn chairs. Food truck vendors will be on hand to supply the vittles. The movie will start at dusk, so no need to brave the full brunt of July heat to see the legendary action-packed film. You might say it’s as easy as wax on, wax off. Free, 8:30 p.m., Travis Park, 301 E. Travis St., slabcinema.com. — CH

FRI | 07.07 -

SUN | 07.30

THEATER GREASE

To commemorate 45 years since the release of the seminal movie-mu- sical, a stage production of Grease (dir. Chris Rodriguez) is hot-rodding into the recently renamed Wonder Theatre this July. In this beloved satire of 1950s teen high school life, notorious greaser Danny Zuko (Anthony Martucci) and chaste Australian exchange student Sandy Olsson (Lauren Campion) take a chance at an exhilarating summer fling. When senior year begins and Sandy faces ridicule from Danny’s leather-clad friends, she prepares to bid a bittersweet farewell to their whirlwind romance. Danny, however, is determined to keep her around. In the face of Rydell High’s rigid clique culture, Danny and Sandy must decide if they’re willing to abandon their long-standing social circles to keep their “summer lovin’” alive. $18-$32, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, Wonder Theatre at the Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road, (210) 267-8388, woodlawntheatre.org. — Caroline WolfF