Documents refute Robert Kennedy's Samoa vaccine claim
Newly obtained letters show Health Secretary Robert Kennedy told Samoa's prime minister he wanted to study MMR vaccines before a 2019 visit—directly contradicting his Senate confirmation claim that the trip had nothing to do with vaccines. The documents, reported by the AP and Guardian, revive questions about his confirmation testimony.
Key Takeaways
- A January 2019 letter from Robert Kennedy used "vaccine" or "vaccination" eight times and proposed studying Samoa's MMR shots.
- During 2025 confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators the Samoa trip had "nothing to do with vaccines."
- HHS says the visit was unrelated to vaccines and calls lying claims defamatory; he was not under oath.
- Critics link the trip to anti-vaccine activism ahead of a measles outbreak that killed 83 people.
What did the new documents show about Robert Kennedy?
Letters obtained by The Guardian and the Associated Press contradict Kennedy's hearing testimony. In a Jan. 20, 2019 letter to then-Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, written on Children's Health Defense letterhead, he proposed a "detailed health informatics assessment" of what happened with Samoa's MMR vaccines.
Kennedy wrote that he believed two child deaths after MMR doses could have stemmed from manufacturing issues. He said health systems rarely help investigators quickly study links "between diagnoses and specific vaccination events." The prime minister later welcomed CHD's independent MMR assessment.
A May 2019 email from CHD colleague Dr. Michael Graven also framed the travel as part of a vaccine-related "mission," according to the reporting.
How did Kennedy describe the Samoa trip to the Senate?
Pressed by Sen. Ron Wyden, Kennedy said he went to introduce a medical informatics system to digitize records and improve care efficiency—"nothing to do with vaccines." The next day, Sen. Edward Markey heard the same denial: his purpose "had nothing to do with vaccines."
Kennedy also said he never gave a public vaccine statement in Samoa and that no Samoan would say they skipped a shot because of him. The Senate confirmed him 52-48. Coverage of related confirmation fights also surfaces in BlasterPost's Future Tech & AI Wonders hub when policy meets public trust.
Why does the contradiction matter now?
Kennedy then chaired Children's Health Defense, known for anti-vaccine activism. Samoa had paused vaccinations for 10 months after two nurses mixed an MMR dose improperly; rates collapsed. Kennedy, Cheryl Hines, and Graven visited in May–June 2019 after shots resumed and officials blamed human error, not the vaccine itself.
He met anti-vaccine activists there. Months later measles sickened thousands and killed 83 people, mostly children under five. Public health experts say activists, some emboldened by the visit, hindered response. Democrats including Wyden and Markey say he misled the Senate.
HHS insists the 2019 visit "was unrelated to vaccines" and that lying claims are "outright defamatory." Kennedy was not under oath; knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress can still be a crime, though prosecutions are rare. The White House did not comment.