Colorado’s Polis takes heat over initial RFK Jr. excitement

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is facing backlash following a comment he made about being “excited” by President-elect Trump tapping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” the governor wrote in a post on social platform X, referencing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Trump’s nomination of the anti-vaccine activist and environmental lawyer as HHS secretary raised eyebrows among Democrats and public health experts, who worry Kennedy could meddle with key government agencies, amplify vaccine hesitancy and direct agency funding to favor his preferred views. 

Kennedy brings a deep skepticism of pharmaceutical companies and the federal agencies overseeing them. The former independent presidential candidate has said federal health regulators are “sock puppets” held captive by industry special interests. He has promised to purge entire departments at the FDA to eliminate corruption. 

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) expressed disappointment over Polis’s praise of Trump’s appointment.

Green said he was disappointed in Polis, whom he said he likes, telling CNN’s Laura Coates during an interview Thursday “it is not OK, it’s not OK to do what he did, to cast doubt on processes that are well established in science.”

“It makes parents scared. When parents are scared, they don’t take action,” Green added, warning that if vaccination rates decrease, “you’ll see disease spread widely across America.”

Colorado state Sen. Kyle Mullica (D) also pushed back on Polis’s apparent support of Kennedy, as reported by Colorado Public Radio (CPR).

“I just think it’s really irresponsible and disappointing,” Mullica said, as highlighted by CPR.

Susan Lontine, executive director of Immunize Colorado and a former Colorado state legislator, told CPR that she disagrees with Trump’s nomination of Kennedy, though she “hopes to work with Polis in the next legislative session.”

“We’re disappointed and concerned by Gov. Polis’ support of RFK Jr.’s appointment,” Lontine said, as reported by CPR.

New York Times columnist Ezra Klein offered some background to Polis’s endorsement in a post on X based on an interview he did with the governor just days before Trump’s nomination.

During the interview, Klein reported Polis said, “I was sad to see RFK leaving our coalition because his voters in Colorado are a big part of my coalition. I mean, I had to threaten to veto vaccine mandates and we were able to avoid them. We have been trying to legalize raw milk in our state for several years and we’re continuing to try because it leans into empowering people to make their own choices.”

Klein also reported Polis said, “I certainly believe in vaccinations.”

“But if you can’t convince people with the data, then they have the personal freedom not to. ‘Our bodies, our choice’ applies not just to fetuses, but also to decisions around health care — whether it’s getting vaccinated or what foods you consume,” Polis said, as reported by Klein in the post.

A Polis spokesperson told The Hill that the governor “has not changed his view as a whole on RFK Jr.’s positions.”

“While opposed to RFK’s positions on a host of issues, including vaccines and banning fluoridation, he would appreciate seeing action on pesticides and efforts to lower prescription drug costs and if Trump is going to nominate someone like him then let them also take on soda, processed food, pesticides and heavy metals contamination. But he definitely does not endorse actions that would lead to measles outbreaks and opposes unscientific propaganda that undermines confidence in the lifesaving impact of vaccines,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that Polis received the flu and COVID vaccines last week.

Updated on Nov. 20 at 8:22 a.m. EST