In just a few months, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has initiated significant changes in U.S. health policy, including reducing staff at key health agencies, refocusing regulatory and research priorities, altering Covid-19 vaccine regulations, and shifting the department’s mission toward greater emphasis on alternative medicine.
These moves reflect a broader shift among a segment of health-conscious, left-leaning Americans who have become skeptical of the traditional health care establishment.
This voter base, which helped elect a Republican president despite differing political backgrounds, resonates with Kennedy’s approach, though it has also sparked new skepticism toward federal health policies.
Bernadine Francis, a lifelong Democrat who supported Joe Biden in 2020 but voted for Donald Trump in 2024, expressed support for Kennedy’s efforts despite acknowledging the challenges posed by entrenched administration and congressional forces. “From what I have seen so far with what RFK has been trying to do, I am really, really proud of what he’s doing,” Francis told NBC News.
Francis is among those who shifted their political allegiance primarily due to concerns about public health policies, which they and Kennedy believe were misdirected.
Issues such as chemical exposure in food and environmental toxins—traditionally championed by Democrats—have become rallying points within parts of the Republican Party, often accompanied by widespread, sometimes unverified, information.
These concerns are intertwined with debates over Covid-19 vaccines, which were developed rapidly under the Trump administration, widely distributed during Biden’s tenure, and politicized by vaccine skeptics including Kennedy amid pandemic-related restrictions and workforce mandates.
“We knew in order to get RFK in there so he can help with the situation that we have in the health industry, we knew we had to do this,” said Francis, a retired Washington, D.C., public school administrator who left her career over vaccine refusal.
Francis recounted losing faith in the Democratic Party following the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates for federal workers during the pandemic’s peak, a policy no longer in effect. The United States has recorded over 1.2 million confirmed Covid deaths since the pandemic began, according to CDC data.
Kennedy’s rapid policy shifts underscore a realignment in U.S. health governance, reflecting deep public divisions over science, trust, and the future direction of national health priorities.
