Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attend a marketing campaign occasion sponsored by conservative group Turning Level USA, in Duluth, Georgia, U.S., October 23, 2024.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Former president Donald Trump stated Sunday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s proposal to take away fluoride from the U.S. water system “sounds okay” to him, a place that runs counter to the recommendation of public well being businesses.
“Nicely, I have not talked to him about it but, nevertheless it sounds okay to me. You understand it is doable,” Trump stated in an interview with NBC Information’ Dasha Burns, when requested about Kennedy’s proposition.
Kennedy posted on X Saturday, “On January 20, the Trump White Home will advise all U.S. water techniques to take away fluoride from public water.”
Trump additionally stated Kennedy would have an enormous function crafting public health policy in any Trump administration.
Fluoride is of course occurring in nearly all water sources, and a few is added to public water to assist stop cavities, in accordance with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
“The security and advantages of fluoride are effectively documented and have been reviewed comprehensively by a number of scientific and public well being organizations,” reads a post on the CDC web site.
The American Dental Affiliation says that 70 years of analysis backs up the protection and efficacy of including fluoride to water, a course of often called neighborhood water fluoridation.
The Trump marketing campaign didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for touch upon the fluoride comment.
Kennedy can be a well-known vaccine skeptic, who has helped unfold false conspiracy theories about public well being. Requested by NBC Information whether or not “banning sure vaccines is likely to be on the desk” if Trump had been president and Kennedy was in his administration, Trump left the door open.
“Nicely I will discuss to him and discuss to different individuals, and I am going to decide, however he is a really proficient man and has sturdy views,” stated Trump.
The science on fluoride and water fluoridation is clear. However Trump’s doubts and the questions they might increase for voters about what public well being would possibly seem like in a Trump White Home underscore a severe problem for the Trump marketing campaign in its closing days: Staying on message.
Final weekend, insult comic Tony Hinchcliffe known as Puerto Rico a “floating island of rubbish,” which the Trump marketing campaign distanced itself from.
These feedback dominated the information cycle for a number of days, till President Joe Biden appeared to name Trump supporters “garbage,” earlier than later saying that was not what he meant.
Republicans argue that voters aren’t taking note of each controversial assertion from Trump and his allies this week, and as an alternative centered on the larger points within the race.
“Voters in Michigan and Ohio and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Georgia and North Carolina are all speaking about crime and unemployment,'” stated Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
“They’re speaking concerning the border. They’re speaking about 70,000 Individuals dropping their lives to fentanyl. They don’t seem to be speaking about fluoride.”
