RFK Jr. offers conflicting views on Lyme disease

By Ariel Wittenberg | 01/30/2025 01:37 PM EST

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said Lyme disease could be a bioweapon.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his second confirmation hearing Thursday for Health and Human Services secretary. Rod Lamkey Jr./AP

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators Thursday that he “never believed” that Lyme disease was created as a biological weapon.

But almost exactly a year ago — in January 2024 — the Health and Human Services nominee hosted an entire episode of his podcast dedicated to “Bioweapons and Lyme Disease.”

On the episode, Kennedy hosted author Kris Newby, who had recently published a book called “Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons.”

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Together, they promoted a false conspiracy theory that the tick-borne illness was cooked up in a military lab off the coast of Long Island, New York, in the 1950s.

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