Donald Trump has picked vaccine sceptic and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr as his health secretary, as the president-elect continues to build his new administration.
Kennedy, commonly known by his initials RFK Jr, has a history of spreading health information that scientists say is false.
If his nomination is ratified by the Senate, he will lead a huge agency overseeing everything from food safety to medical research and welfare programmes.
The announcement came amid a fresh flurry of nominations on Thursday evening, with Trump also declaring his intention to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as his interior secretary.
Trump said he would formally announce the selection of Burgum – a former businessman who ran against the president-elect for the Republican presidential nomination – on Friday.
He had initially teased the move during a speech to supporters at Mar-a-Lago – his first since election night – saying he would be appointing Burgum to a “very big position”, before seemingly deciding to dispense with the suspense.
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Democrats have been quick to condemn the pick, with Senator Patty Murray calling the choice “catastrophic” and labelling Kennedy a “fringe conspiracy theorist”.
Republican Senator Susan Collins said she had found some of Kennedy’s “statements to be alarming” but said she would grant him a fair hearing during confirmation proceedings.
Trump said in a statement he was “thrilled to announce” Kennedy’s nomination.
Speculation had grown that Trump planned to hand his former rival a key healthcare role. He told supporters at his election night victory party that Kennedy wanted to “help make America healthy again”.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health”, Trump said in his statement on Thursday.
“Mr Kennedy will restore these Agencies [Health and Human Services] to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
The nominee hails from one of the most famous families in Democratic politics as the son of US Attorney General Robert F Kennedy and nephew of President John F Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s.
BBC.com
