from the least-he-could-do dept
As you will recall, a single gunmen opened fire on a CDC campus in Atlanta earlier this month, claiming to have been injured by COVID vaccines. The rhetoric he had used prior to the shooting closely aligned with what RFK Jr. had been spouting for years. While Kennedy took nearly a day to even publicly comment on the shooting, more local CDC leadership was fielding questions from the Atlanta team that amounted to how the organization was going to ensure that misinformation stopped flowing from Kennedy’s mouth such that they had become targets for this gunman in the first place. They got their answer when Kennedy commented publicly the next week, reiterating all that same rhetoric that caused them to be targeted.
It’s perhaps not surprising then that hundreds of CDC staff signed an open letter essentially begging Kennedy to stop putting them in potential crosshairs.
More than 750 employees across the Department of Health and Human Services sent a signed letter to members of Congress and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday morning, calling on the secretary to stop spreading misinformation.
The letter states the deadly shooting that occurred at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Aug. 8 was “not random” and was driven by “politicized rhetoric.”
The signatories are accusing Kennedy of endangering the lives of HHS employees by spreading misinformation.
It’s a cry for help coming from within the organization that Kennedy is responsible for. These are people worried that their lives are being put at risk by Kennedy and his ilk, all due to the irresponsible claims he’s made for years, and continues to make to this day.
But if you were expecting empathy from the leadership of HHS, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Instead of that empathy, a statement from HHS apparently accuses signatories to that letter of “politicizing” the mass shooting that targeted them.
In a statement to ABC News, HHS said, “Secretary Kennedy is standing firmly with CDC employees — both on the ground and across every center — ensuring their safety and well-being remain a top priority. In the wake of this heartbreaking shooting, he traveled to Atlanta to offer his support and reaffirm his deep respect, calling the CDC ‘a shining star among global health agencies.’”
“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,” the statement continued. “Any attempt to conflate widely supported public health reforms with the violence of a suicidal mass shooter is an attempt to politicize a tragedy.”
This is bullshit. CDC staff are not politicizing the shooting; they’re begging to not be made targets. That statement is so far afield from the actual request in the letter that I don’t even know how to respond to it, other than to say that it’s quite obvious Kennedy is refusing to moderate or alter his rhetoric. Conspiracy theories appear to be more important to him than the lives of those under his employ.
This is governmental malpractice. It needs to stop. It won’t stop unless someone in a position of power does something about it.
Filed Under: cdc, conspiracy theories, disinformation, health and human services, misinformation, rfk jr.
