Hawaii Governor Connects Measles Outbreak to Trump's Health Nominee

A tragic event unfolded on a distant Pacific island just months before it was overshadowed by a worldwide pandemic. For Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii, the measles outbreak in neighboring Samoa, which resulted in the deaths of 83 individuals—primarily infants and young children—was a disaster that could have been avoided, driven by misinformation propagated by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is President Trump's choice to lead American health policy.

In December 2019, Dr. Green, who was serving as Hawaii's Democratic lieutenant governor and is an emergency medical doctor, organized a medical mission to Samoa. He gathered a team of medical professionals and brought thousands of vaccine doses to the island in an effort to combat the outbreak. Recently, he traveled to Washington with the purpose of informing lawmakers from both parties about the significant role that Kennedy's vaccine skepticism played in the measles crisis.

Kennedy is set to undergo confirmation hearings before two Senate committees, where they will ultimately decide whether his candidacy will proceed to the full Senate for a vote. In light of this, Democrats are trying to use Kennedy’s link to the Samoa outbreak as a strategy to rally opposition against his appointment. Dr. Green has been featured in a campaign by the liberal group 314 Action, where he emphasized that Kennedy’s spread of misinformation led to a decrease in vaccination rates, resulting in a tragic and lethal outbreak of measles.