‘Congrats to RFK Jr.’: Democrats, Pundits Pile On as Measles Cases Hit Record High
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
After news broke Friday that measles cases in the U.S. have already broken 2025’s record high, just seven months into the year, Democratic lawmakers and pundits alike took to the internet to lay into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. has now recorded 2,318 confirmed measles cases in 2026, the highest annual total since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. The surge comes as multiple outbreaks continue across the country, with the overwhelming majority of infections occurring among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
Public health experts have repeatedly warned that declining childhood vaccination rates have left communities more vulnerable to outbreaks, and many have questioned Kennedy’s stewardship of the nation’s health agencies. Since taking office, he’s drawn scrutiny for minimizing the risks of measles, stopping federal funding for vaccine hesitancy research, and emphasizing further study of vaccine safety even as health officials continue to say the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine remains the best protection against the disease.
Folks wasted no time before pointing the finger on X at Kennedy, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, and President Donald Trump’s administration as a whole, with former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd writing Friday, “Congrats to RFK Jr., or something. I’m no lawyer, but once he’s out of the protection of Gov’t and the limited immunity he receives from holding the office he holds, is he not open to a slew of civil litigation for his role in misleading so many parents on this issue?”
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) also chimed in, adding, “There is one effective way to reduce the spread and severity of measles: Vaccination. And RFK Jr. has undermined it at every turn. He is a hazard to our health and must resign.”
Check out more reactions below, including from Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA) and Haley Stevens (D-MI).
—
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓