It didn't take long for Democrats to scream their heads off when Donald Trump announced that he'd chosen Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services. This was perhaps the least shocking of all his picks because he basically fulfilled a campaign promise by doing so.
“I’m going to let him go wild on health. I’m going to let him go wild on the food. I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines,” Trump said during his rally at Madison Square Garden.
“The only thing I don’t think I’m going to let him even get near is the liquid gold that we have under our feet,” he added.
Ever since Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, "Make America Healthy Again" has been a new slogan of the campaign, and it was inevitable that Kennedy would be given a prominent role in the administration to fulfill that mission.
Of course, the media is freaking out, the Democrats are freaking out, and so is Big Pharma. One left-wing organization, Public Citizen, dubbed Kennedy a "clear and present danger to the nation’s health."
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What's funny is that Trump was not the first president-elect to consider Kennedy for a cabinet position.
Would you believe that distinction belongs to Barack Obama?
"President-elect Barack Obama is strongly considering Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Environmental Protection Agency, a Cabinet post, Democratic officials told Politico," Politico reported on Nov. 5, 2008. "Obama’s transition planners are weighing several other celebrity-level political stars for Cabinet posts, including retired Gen. Colin L. Powell for secretary of defense or education, the officials said."
Kennedy’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, who helped Obama lead his vice presidential search, is being considered for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, although some Obama officials doubt she would take the post. Obama is indebted to the Kennedy family for a hearty endorsement at a crucial point in the Democratic primaries.
The selection of Kennedy would be a shrewd early move for the new presidential team. Obama advisers said the nomination would please both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
It also would raise the profile of the EPA, which would help endear Obama to liberals who may be disappointed on other issues important to the Democratic left because of budget restrictions.
The EPA enforces clean air and clear water laws. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and son of the late senator and attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, has long championed a cleaner water supply for New York City.
As an officer and attorney for the environmental watch group Riverkeeper, Kennedy has taken on governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound.
Kennedy, a falconer and white-water rafter, also worked as an assistant district attorney in New York City.
Kennedy gained Washington experience by fighting anti-environmental legislation in Congress in 1995 and 1996, when Newt Gingrich took over as House speaker.
Obama may not have chosen Kennedy for the post, but it is amusing to see how easily the narrative has changed now that Trump has chosen Kennedy for a cabinet position.
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