, Columnist
The CDC Shooting Proves How Dangerous Misinformation Can Be
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has refused to acknowledge how his anti-vaccine rhetoric endangers public health workers.
Misinformation can be a dangerous thing.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images North AmericaThe horrifying attack on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters felt like the grimly predictable result of years of pandemic-related misinformation and disinformation — much of it propagated by the very people now leading US health agencies.
It’s no surprise, then, that instead of offering a concrete plan to protect staff and rebuild public trust, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seized the tragedy as another opportunity to double down on his dangerous rhetoric.