Kennedy downplays measles outbreak

An ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, which resulted in the death of a school-aged child this week, isn't unusual, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday.

By

National News

February 27, 2025 - 2:18 PM

The new U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shakes hands with President Donald Trump after a swearing in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13, 2025. Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images/TNS

Newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to dismiss a rare measles outbreak that has killed a child in Texas and sickened more than 120 people.

“It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” the controversial politician said during Trump’s first cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon.

Kennedy then went on to incorrectly state that two people have died from the outbreak, when multiple officials had only confirmed one death as of Wednesday. He also said the majority of hospitalizations have been “mainly for…

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