Health Secretary RFK Jr. Says Global Measles Outbreak Caused “Because So Many People Went Unvaccinated During COVID Pandemic”

Reporter: Has the war had an impact on your campaign at this point?

Staffer: We’re not going to talk about that.

Reporter: Mr. Secretary, do you believe that five deaths, potentially six, from measles in the state of Pennsylvania—

Staffer: We’re also not going to talk about… pic.twitter.com/4IbCwGpaIX

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 15, 2026

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Kennedy’s remarks referred to a private journal entry written by Fauci on May 6, 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were later discussed during a congressional hearing in July this year.

“Greater than one million children worldwide have missed their measles vaccination because of the shutdown,” Fauci wrote.

“This is terrible and needs to be addressed, since on that basis alone there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children.”

The United States is experiencing its worst measles resurgence in decades, with cases already far exceeding the total recorded throughout 2025.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 4,080 confirmed cases across the country as of October 8, compared with 2,289 for the whole of last year, and 285 in 2024.

But Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the worst-affected states and a major focus of the outbreak, with more than 1,222 cases reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as of October 14.

The state’s outbreak has prompted a dispute between Kennedy and Governor Josh Shapiro (D. Pa) over the number of deaths associated with the disease and the federal response.

Pennsylvania officials have reported five measles-associated deaths this year, with a sixth suspected death announced in October. The CDC, however, has confirmed two measles-associated deaths nationwide in 2026, with other cases under review.

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Unbelievable. This guy just threw the entire movement he represented completely under the bus, backed up, ran over it again, got out, walked over and spit on it, and drove off giving it the middle finger. Unforgivable.

— Five Times August (@FiveTimesAugust) October 17, 2026

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WTF he wrote a whole book about this psychopathic goblin and all the evil things he's done? pic.twitter.com/ygv0pb35lq

— Ludvik XIV (@lgslf) October 17, 2026

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Oh. My. Gosh.

RFK Jr. now claims the measles “outbreak” is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during COVID, and cites Fauci as having predicted this.

This is possibly the most unbelievable thing he’s said thus far apart from Warpspeed. pic.twitter.com/QaK0qAkaNk

— ZeeeMediaOfficial (@zeeemedia) October 17, 2026

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HE JUST BLAMED PEOPLE NOT GETTING VACCINATED FOR THE "GLOBAL MEASLES OUTBREAK".

Wow, this man is a demon. The way he swindled all those mothers of children injured by the MMR out of their money for decades, exploiting them and their hope that he was on their "side".

Truly… https://t.co/LUoCaLvgsN

— Tara (@EmbracingTara) October 16, 2026

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The man who built a brand tearing into Fauci just used him as a source.

RFK Jr. says measles deaths are happening because people went unvaccinated during COVID and that Fauci was right. https://t.co/uT8qzgAMr5

— FreeThinkerFitness (@FreeThinkerFit) October 17, 2026

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Most US adults either still mistakenly believe that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t recommend the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine or are unsure of his stance, prompting doubt about his ability to address ongoing measles outbreaks across the country, according to a poll released today by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) at the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition, most adults dismiss the Trump administration’s claim that childhood vaccines cause autism, and while half of poll respondents still hold the same unfavorable opinion of Kennedy they did in August 2025, significantly more say they view him very unfavorably.

Americans’ uncertainty of where Kennedy stands on the MMR vaccine might in large part be traced back to Kennedy himself. He has rarely provided unflinching support for the highly effective vaccine.

More than 1,900 adults responded to the poll, conducted from August 4 to 17. Of all participants, 31% correctly stated that Kennedy recommends the MMR vaccine, up from 23% in August 2025. But most indicated that Kennedy either doesn’t recommend the vaccine (29%) or are unclear about his position (40%).

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