Opinion | Peter Hotez and other health experts ignore Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at our peril

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to become America’s next president.

This separates him from most “conspiracy theorists,” a term the media has brandished for two decades to dismiss Mr. Kennedy’s views on everything from the danger of vaccines to the treachery of the Deep State.

But it is getting much harder to pretend he does not exist.

Kennedy recently got a massive PR hit thanks to something neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden has experienced: a long-form interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Whatever you think of Mr. Rogan, his reach is staggering. He is a cultural kingmaker. Rogan can sprinkle pixie dust and turn new comics into stars. He can thrust obscure books atop bestseller lists. If Rogan told fans his new workout involves bench-pressing cadavers, there’d be body snatching at cemeteries around the world.

To win the White House in 2024, Kennedy needs to dethrone Biden in the Democratic primaries and then beat his Republican opponent. You don’t need BetMGM to know his odds are currently in the long-shot range.

But his media strategy is intriguing. He understands how his uncle, John F. Kennedy, harnessed the emerging power of TV. Or how Trump weaponized Twitter.

So he is putting all his chips on podcasts. This is not as crazy as it sounds.

And it should not be ignored by experts who believe Kennedy is a threat to public health. Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College, tweeted about the Rogan-Kennedy interview this weekend, using words such as “awful” and “nonsense.”

This prompted Rogan to issue a challenge: “Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is ‘misinformation’ I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you’re willing to debate him on my show with no time limit.”

Everything then went bananas.

Other high-profile users, including Twitter’s excitable owner Elon Musk, jumped into the pile-on. Kooks showed up outside Dr. Hotez’s home. He was ridiculed and defended in equal measure. The circus turned into social media noise.

Most scientists are telling Hotez to not debate Kennedy. They argue this would “legitimize” a conspiracy theorist. These experts are making a grave miscalculation.

Kennedy is gaining traction. A recent poll from the Economist and YouGov found he had a higher favourability rating than Biden or Trump. Some of his ideas can be easily refuted by most of us. If Rogan wants to give me $100,000 — to me, not charity — I will debate Kennedy on the Ukraine war, which he wrongly blames on the creeping provocations of NATO. This is not a “proxy” war. It is proof Vladimir Putin is a psychopath who made a catastrophic error with delusions of empire.

A timeline slide show of atrocities and war crimes can easily settle that debate.

But when Kennedy gets into the weeds of medical science, whether alleging vaccines cause autism or chemicals in drinking water may lead to gender dysphoria, this is where the actual experts need to engage.

Otherwise, they are contributing to Kennedy’s long-shot campaign.

If you asked me to characterize him weeks ago, I would have regurgitated media talking points. Kennedy? Oh, he is an anti-vaxxer. He is a conspiracy theorist who believes the CIA assassinated his father and uncle. He often sounds indistinguishable from Alex Jones. He is a card-carrying member of the lunatic fringe. Ignore him.

But Kennedy’s podcast strategy is paying off. I’ve now listened to hours of him answering all kinds of questions. He comes across as knowledgeable and reasonable.

I would go so far as to add endearing and likeable.

Whether any of this is true, I have no clue. But that is the perception.

And in politics, perception is reality.

When he tells Rogan no scientist has agreed to debate him in 18 years, this will only make everyone wonder … why not? When he writes a damning book titled “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health” that becomes a bestseller without a libel suit, Kennedy is emboldened.

It is regrettable Dr. Hotez endured ugly bullying this weekend. He is an honourable public servant who is trying to save lives with vaccines, especially in the developing world. But after he denounced the Kennedy interview — and Rogan invited him to debate without time or content barriers — he should have said yes.

If what Kennedy keeps saying about vaccines and chronic diseases can be easily knocked down by scientific research, now is the time to knock it down. Kennedy isn’t a dishevelled crank on the subway at 2 a.m. running his yap about a flat Earth. He is a presidential candidate. His beliefs already resonate on both sides of the border.

If he’s wrong, smack him down with the irrefutable evidence. Discredit him.

Dr. Hotez said he is not inclined to participate in the equivalent of a Jerry Springer episode. Fair enough. But if what Kennedy claims about vaccines and lockdowns, if his analysis of trans frogs or the possibility Wi-Fi leads to illness is laughably wrong, why is no other expert taking him on as he becomes a darling to heterodox podcasters who are eager to spread his message in a way the MSM could never?

The experts should not shy away from debating Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

They are turning him into a folk hero.

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