RFK JR., SCIENCE, AND THE ATLANTIC PART 1

I WAS DISTURBED TO SEE THE ATLANTIC’S JANUARY 2026 COVER BLURB “The Most Powerful Man in Science” accompanying a beatified image of a bead-fondling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is this meant satirically ? Doesn’t it conflict the word “science” with conspiracy-ridden thinking?

I’ve read Michael Scherer’s extensive “Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?,” as well as the magazine’s online “Press Room” summary by Anna Bross and Paul Jackson.

My Not Uninfluenced Thinking. I confess that I come upon these articles with not uninfluenced thinking: In “RFK Jr. and Fluoridation—AAAS Comments,” November 17, 2024, I wrote, “Putting RFK Jr. in charge of public health, to some of us, may seem darkly satirical given his brain-worm, whale-head, bear-corpse, and anti-vaccine proclivities, not to say other batshit conspiracy craziness.” In “Is There a Right of Ignorance? Part 2,” December 20, 2024, I suggested, “… lamentably enough, the ignorant/uninformed include pre-President Trump and at least one of his appointees, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” And in “RFK Jr.’s Evil Asinine Inept Nonsense,” June 1, 2025, I cited questionable “science” in his Make America Healthy Again assessments, as if “again” implied a return to diseases that modern medicine had all but eliminated: smallpox, polio, measles, and diphtheria, to name four. 

On Scherer’s “Profile” and Bross and Jackson’s “Press Room.” I encourage you to read both articles from The Atlantic. And, in particular, I applaud Anna Bross and Paul Jackson for their excellent gleaning of Scherer’s 10,000+ words. They’ve left me little to do but select my favorite (and most RFK Jr.-revealing) tidbits. These are presented here in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow. 

RFK Jr. on Trump. “Kennedy,” writes Scherer, “compares his relationship with Trump to ‘when you’re dating somebody that you keep liking more and more.’ ”

Trump and RFK Jr. Image by Alex Brandon/Associated Press from the Los Angeles Times.

Hmm…. What about “‘A Terrible President’: 12 Times Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Criticized Trump,” The New York Times, August 28, 2024. Among RFK Jr. quotes cited: “Donald Trump was a terrible president,” July 2, 2024. “I don’t think he’s capable of meeting the expectations and fulfilling the promises that he raises with his rhetoric,” July 2, 2024. “A barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims,” April 27, 2024. “Buffoonery at a high level,” May 17, 2018.

Geez. I seem to be agreeing with RFK Jr. At least with the RFK Jr. back then. 

However, words—and actions—have consequences.  So does hypocrisy.

Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll continue The Atlantic’s analyses of RFK Jr., together with my interspersed comments.

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025