Vice President JD Vance has publicly endorsed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial approach to healthcare, praising his willingness to challenge established scientific consensus during a high-profile summit in Washington DC.
A New Direction for American Healthcare
During a fireside chat at Wednesday's "Make America Healthy Again" gathering, Vance strongly supported Kennedy's methodology of questioning mainstream medical advice and incorporating unconventional voices into health policy discussions. The Vice President remarked that throughout history, "all the experts were wrong," directly aligning himself with Kennedy's much-debated stance.
The event, held at a Washington hotel on 12 November 2025, saw Vance champion Kennedy's MAHA movement as "a critical part of our success in Washington." This endorsement demonstrates how the White House has embraced Kennedy despite his polarising reputation stemming from his aggressive restructuring of public health agencies and longstanding vaccine scepticism.
Controversial Changes and Criticism
Even as President Donald Trump and Kennedy have disagreed on specific issues including COVID-19 vaccines and abortion, the administration has largely allowed Kennedy free rein to implement sweeping changes across federal health agencies. These transformations have included laying off thousands of workers, dismissing science advisers, and overhauling vaccine guidelines.
The Trump administration has highlighted several of Kennedy's initiatives as positive achievements, particularly his efforts to eliminate artificial dyes from foods, combat ultra-processed foods, and update national dietary guidelines. Kennedy has stated his objective is to identify root causes of chronic disease and reduce Americans' exposure to toxins.
However, leading medical associations have expressed serious concerns, arguing that Kennedy's disregard for established science is fostering public distrust in mainstream medicine. Critics maintain that views once considered fringe are now being amplified from his powerful position as Health Secretary.
Unconventional Appointments and Future Implications
Vance acknowledged that many individuals within Kennedy's network don't originate from traditional medical backgrounds, with some possessing more business experience than healthcare expertise. Indeed, numerous of the health secretary's close allies and new appointments have openly rejected medical consensus on topics including vaccines and chronic disease treatment.
"We've got to be comfortable challenging some of these old orthodoxies, and part of that is welcoming people that are a little unusual," Vance stated during their conversation.
The Vice President also connected Kennedy's approach to bureaucracy disruption with President Trump's similar mentality, describing Trump as someone who "takes a bulldozer to Overton windows every single day" - referencing the range of policies considered acceptable by the majority.
The MAHA event followed closely after another gathering in Austin, Texas that featured several overlapping attendees - the annual conference of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organisation Kennedy previously led. That conference included sessions with titles such as "The Enduring Nightmare of COVID mRNA Technology" and featured Kennedy's wife, Cheryl Hines, as a headline speaker.
MAHA Action, the group behind Wednesday's summit, declared that Trump's endorsement of their movement represents "a decisive turning point in U.S. health policy," with their president Tony Lyons calling it "the culmination of a movement that was 40 years in the making."
