Headline Roundup • August 21st, 2025
750 Current, Former HHS Workers Say RFK Jr. Is Spreading Misinformation
Healthcare,Robert F Kennedy Jr,Vaccine Skepticism,Vaccines,Department Of Health And Human Services,CDC
Summary from the AllSides News Team
A letter, signed by over 750 current and former federal health workers, asks Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop “spreading inaccurate health information.”
The Details: Current and former HHS staffers penned this letter partially in response to the shooting at a CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed a police officer. The gunman claimed that he wanted to make his distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine known. The letter reads, “The attack came amid growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization—and now, violence.” The staffers ask Kennedy to “cease and publicly disavow the ongoing dissemination of false and misleading claims about vaccines, infectious disease transmission, and America’s public health institutions.” It also asks him to affirm the scientific integrity of the CDC and guarantee safety to the HHS staff.
HHS Response: A spokesperson for Kennedy and the department said, “For the first time in its 70-year history, the mission of HHS is truly resonating with the American people—driven by President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s bold commitment to Make America Healthy Again. Any attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy.”
How the Media Covered It: BBC (Center bias) wrote that “before becoming health secretary, Kennedy spread a number of false claims about vaccines, including debunked theories that the shots are linked with autism.” It also claimed that Kennedy has continued to make “inaccurate statements” since taking office. CNN (Lean Left) reported that Kennedy “helmed an anti-vaccine advocacy group” before taking office. Washington Examiner (Lean Right) noted that Kennedy has “expressed skepticism about certain vaccines” for years.
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More than 750 current and former employees of the US health department have published a letter rebuking Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, saying his "dangerous and deceitful statements" contributed to recent violence at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters.
Officials say the man who fired hundreds of rounds at the CDC this month, killing a police officer, had expressed distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine.
In their letter, the staff said the attack came as "politicized rhetoric" drives mistrust in institutions.
More than 750 former and current Department of Health and Human Services staff have called on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to condemn misinformation in the health space.
Their request comes after a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta earlier this month in which the gunman claimed the COVID-19 vaccine made him depressed and suicidal.
https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/c-2025-08-11t194916z-1335851296-rc235gai713w-rtrmadp-3-usa-shooting-atlanta.jpg?c=original&q=w_860,c_fill/f_avif
More than 750 current and former staffers at the US Department of Health and Human Services implored Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in a letter Wednesday to “stop spreading inaccurate health information” after a shooter fired hundreds of rounds at the headquarters of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month.
The letter, also addressed to members of Congress, noted “the violent August 8th attack on CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta was not random.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that the shooter had expressed discontent with the Covid-19 vaccine and wanted...
