RFK Jr. Claims Aspirin in Pregnancy Causes Reye’s Syndrome — Then Can’t Define It

During a Friday appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the unfounded claim that taking aspirin during pregnancy causes Reye’s Syndrome, before being unable to answer questions on what Reye’s Syndrome actually is.

While explaining his — again, baseless — decision to issue warnings about Tylenol use during pregnancy, RFK Jr. said that the popular brand of acetaminophen is “better than taking ibuprofen or aspirin.”

Rogan then asked, “Why is aspirin bad?”

“Because of Reye’s Syndrome,” the HHS secretary responded. “It has a clear association with Reye’s Syndrome.”

Rogan then repeated the term back in confusion, prompting RFK Jr. to spell it out letter-by-letter.

“What is that?” Rogan asked.

“It’s, um, uh, uh, I’m not sure exactly,” said Kennedy Jr., leading Rogan to ask an off-camera producer to look it up.

“Reye’s Syndrome is a rare but serious condition causing sudden brain swelling and liver damage, primarily in children and teens recovering from viral infections like flu or chickenpox. It’s become very rare due to reduced aspirin use in kids,” read Rogan off the internet.

Notably, the links in research between Reye’s Syndrome and aspirin have nothing to do with taking the drug during pregnancy, as Kennedy Jr. claimed, but rather giving it to children instead.

The Joe Rogan Experience interview marks RFK Jr.’s latest spew of unfounded medical claims, many of which have been supported by President Donald Trump. A longtime vaccine skeptic, he has repeatedly pushed debunked theories linking childhood vaccines to autism — a claim widely rejected by the scientific community and contradicted by decades of research.

He has also cast doubt on COVID-19 vaccines, suggested without evidence that environmental toxins are behind rising rates of chronic illness, and promoted fringe treatments that have drawn criticism from public health experts.

Friday’s exchange, in which the nation’s top health official cited a condition he could not define — while mischaracterizing its causes — is likely to do little to ease the concerns of those who warned his appointment would undermine trust in federal health guidance.

Watch the clip above via The Joe Rogan Experience.

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