The co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team on Wednesday night endorsed vaccine conspiracy theories pushed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and suggested the activist and Trump ally would be given federal data in order to check vaccines’ safety if former President Donald Trump is elected.
Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source,” Howard Lutnick, who said he recently spent two and a half hours with Kennedy, also said Kennedy is “not getting a job for (the Department of Health and Human Services),” which is contrary to a claim the activist made earlier this week in which he said Trump promised to give him “control” of several public health agencies, HHS among them. Lutnick also said tech entrepreneur Elon Musk would “help” rather than serve in the government if Trump wins.
“He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take on the data and show that it’s not safe.’ And then if you pull the product liability (protections), the companies will yank these vaccines right off, off of the market,” Lutnick said.
Lutnick added, “Let’s give him the data. I think it’ll be pretty cool to give him the data. Let’s see what he comes up with. I think it’s pretty fun.” But vaccines that are currently approved and authorized for use in the US have been proven safe and effective and are continually monitored for risks and side effects.
Lutnick also pushed debunked conspiracy theories that vaccines are behind autism in children. Although it is still unclear what causes autism, the scientific consensus is that vaccines do not.
Following backlash over his remarks, Lutnick sought to clarify his position on vaccines by posting on X: “To be clear, my wife and I trust our doctors and following their advice have vaccinated our children and ourselves. However, not everybody trusts such advice or the FDA. We would be doing everyone a service if the government respected Bobby Kennedy’s request to make the full data available.”
As one of the leads on Trump’s transition team, Lutnick is spearheading the personnel search and lining up potential candidates should Trump win a second term. He speaks to the former president on a near-daily basis and has already interviewed dozens of candidates. Lutnick could hold serious sway over which prospective candidates get in front of Trump as they vie for key positions in the federal government.
Kennedy on Monday told supporters that Trump has promised to give him sweeping power over multiple agencies if the former president wins the election.
“The key that I think I’m – you know, that President Trump has promised me is – is control of the public health agencies, which are HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) and its sub-agencies, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), FDA (Food and Drug Administration), NIH (National Institutes of Health) and a few others, and then also the USDA (Department of Agriculture), which is – which, you know, is key to making America healthy,” Kennedy said in a video obtained by CNN.
Trump has previously told CNN he would consider appointing Kennedy to a role in a potential second administration. Following Kennedy’s endorsement in August, Trump committed to including Kennedy on a panel that would investigate the rise in diagnoses of chronic diseases should he return to the White House.
Kennedy serves on Trump’s transition team and has been campaigning as a surrogate for him in key battleground states since exiting the presidential race.
He has been one of the leading proponents of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories in the United States. He made false attacks on the safety and efficacy of vaccines and sharp criticisms of public health and agriculture policy a centerpiece of his presidential campaign.
In his interview with Collins, Lutnick said Musk wouldn’t enter the government because he can’t sell SpaceX. Instead, he would write software to give to the government.
“He’s not coming into the government,” Lutnick said. “He can’t sell SpaceX and Tesla. He’s going to be adjacent to it. Think adjacent to it and writing software for the government. And then giving the software to the government. So helping the government. It’s going to be amazing.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.