RFK Jr.’s rejection of germ theory debunked in Senate hearing

Key Points:

• During a Senate hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders confronted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his rejection of germ theory, a fundamental scientific principle that specific microbes cause specific diseases, with Sen. Bill Cassidy debunking Kennedy’s anti-vaccine arguments in real time.
• Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist with no scientific background, promotes a discredited "terrain theory" which attributes disease to imbalances in the body's environment rather than pathogens, a view he details in his 2021 book, "The Real Anthony Fauci."
• Kennedy claims that improvements in nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation—not vaccines—were responsible for declines in infant mortality during the 20th century, dismissing a 2024 WHO study that credits vaccines with saving an estimated 154 million lives since 1974.
• Cassidy refuted Kennedy’s use of cherry-picked studies, highlighting that while early mortality declines were due to sanitation and hygiene, vaccines have virtually eliminated deadly diseases like diphtheria, measles, and polio since their mid-20th century introduction.
• Kennedy’s denial of germ theory and vaccine efficacy underpins his health policies focused on diet and environmental toxin reduction, but his views remain widely discredited by the scientific and medical communities.