Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has never actually been briefed by CDC experts before making major public health decisions, according to a departing top official at the agency.
The bombshell claim from Dr. Demetre Daskalakis came in a Thursday night CNN interview after the ousting of the newly appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control left the agency in chaos. He gave further details in an interview with the Daily Beast.
Daskalakis resigned from his position as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases on Wednesday in response to the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, who was appointed to the role by President Donald Trump. He is one of four top officials to quit in protest.
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In his resignation letter, posted to social media, Daskalakis specifically named Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy and said that he was “unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.”
“I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people,” Daskalakis added.
Daskalakis expanded on his criticisms of Kennedy in a Thursday appearance on The Source with Kaitlan Collins, claiming that the 71-year-old has not been briefed by a CDC official on a number of key public health concerns, despite multiple requests from within the agency.
“I think that another important thing to ask the secretary is, has he been briefed by a CDC expert on anything, specifically measles, COVID-19, flu? I think that people should ask him that in that hearing,” Daskalakis told Collins, referring to Kennedy’s scheduled appearance before the Senate Finance Committee next week.
When Collins asked what Kennedy’s answer to that would be, Daskalakis’ response left her visibly shocked. “The answer is, ‘No.’ No one from my center has ever briefed him on any of those topics… He’s getting information from somewhere, but that information is not coming from CDC experts,” Daskalakis said.
“I think the CDC really is a place filled with great scientists and experts,” Daskalakis added. “And I think that if CDC is being characterized as troubled by Secretary Kennedy, I think we have to turn the mirror back to him, because I think that the trouble is emanating mainly from him. I think that the disregard for experts, the clear statement that experts should not be trusted, really makes it seem unlikely that his mission for CDC is to be a bastion of scientific expertise.”
There have been several measles outbreaks across the U.S. this year, resulting in 1,408 confirmed cases of the disease, more than in any other year since the disease was declared eradicated in 2000. Kennedy has previously argued that natural immunity, not vaccinations, is the best defense against the virus.
In an interview with the Daily Beast following his appearance on CNN, Daskalakis provided further details on the health secretary’s apparent reluctance to meet with CDC experts.
“It’s not just that he hasn’t asked us. I asked for us to be able to do briefings, and I was told by his Office of the Secretary officials, some of whom are now fired, that they would be happy to have us do briefings, that they would reach out to be able to set them up. They’ve never done so,” he said.
“I think if you ask others, sort of in other agencies, you’re going to get the same answer, that it’s highly atypical that subject matter experts aren’t requested by the secretary. And I’ll tell you that it’s even more atypical that when offered, to decline.”
The Daily Beast has sought comment from the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House.
A statement posted to HHS’ X account Wednesday said, “Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people. @SecKennedy has full confidence in his team at @CDCgov who will continue to be vigilant in protecting Americans against infectious diseases at home and abroad.”
Kennedy himself, however, claimed the CDC had “problems” during a Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends.
“President Trump has very, very ambitious hopes for CDC right now and CDC has problems... We need to look at the priorities at the agency, if there’s really a deeply embedded malaise at the agency, and we need strong leadership that will go in there and be able to execute on President Trump’s broad ambitions,” Kennedy said.
Detailing mistakes he claimed the CDC had made, Kennedy cited “the misinformation coming out of COVID—they got the testing wrong, they got the social distancing, the masks, the school closures... they did so much harm to the American people."
He repeatedly declined to comment on personnel issues, but added, “The agency is in trouble, and we need to fix it, and we are fixing it. And it may be that some people should not be working there anymore.”
In a Thursday social media post, Kennedy credited White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for her claim that Trump and Kennedy “are committed to restoring trust and transparency and credibility to the CDC... We’re going to make sure that folks that are in positions of leadership there are aligned with that mission.”
Thanking Leavitt, Kennedy wrote, “Exactly! That’s how we will restore trust at the @CDCgov.”
He also reposted a tweet from Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich that said, “Public health and honest science will remain a cornerstone of President Trump’s administration and MAHA’s guiding light... America deserves a CDC that will pursue truth and follow the evidence, not one shackled by the whims of unelected bureaucrats.”
Appearing on CNN alongside Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science Dr. Deb Houry and Dr. Daniel Jernigan, former director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Daskalakis explained why they had tendered their resignations following the firing of Trump appointee Monarez.
“The people that have been installed by Secretary Kennedy are full of ideology and bias that will actually contaminate the science... I think that that is a clear sign that the direction that the country‘s public health is going is not one that is evidence-based or science-based, which is why our resignations are really, together, are trying to raise a red flag for everyone,” Daskalakis said.
Former acting CDC Director Richard Besser told Politico that Monarez was ousted after refusing to fire senior agency officials and agree to Kennedy’s proposed vaccine changes, which included ending COVID vaccine mandates and potentially banning COVID vaccines entirely.
The White House has said that Monarez was “not aligned with” Trump’s agenda, while Monarez’s lawyers said that she refused to “rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.”
Several senators have called for investigations into the departures at the CDC, including Republicans Bill Murray and Susan Collins, and independent Bernie Sanders. Democrat Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, called for Kennedy to be fired.
“If there are any adults left in the White House, it’s well past time they face reality… We cannot let RFK Jr. burn what’s left of the CDC and our other critical health agencies to the ground—he must be fired," she said in a statement.
Following Monarez’s sudden departure, Kennedy’s number two, deputy Health Secretary Jim O’Neill, will serve as acting director of the CDC.
O’Neill previously worked in the Department of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush before moving into the private sector, where he worked with the right-wing venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
