The White House strongly criticized a New York Times article regarding Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s initiatives to encourage states to eliminate fluoride from drinking water systems. The Times published a piece detailing Kennedy’s nationwide campaign urging states to prohibit fluoride in water supplies.
The publication framed this as an attempt to reverse what many health professionals consider a crucial public health advancement. The Times’ coverage referenced historical debates from the 1950s regarding fluoride, mentioning concerns about Communist plots and potential brain damage.
White House Rips NY Times Report on RFK Jr., Fluoride | https://t.co/igEaydfuNT https://t.co/MiKBcreqmZ
— ConservativeLibrarian (@ConserLibrarian) April 8, 2025
The article noted research indicating possible harm to infants from excessive fluoride exposure, while highlighting that Kennedy appeared to disregard CDC guidance, which considers fluoridation a major 20th-century health achievement. “The New York Times’s story on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s review of fluoride recommendations is another thinly veiled attempt to falsely portray the Trump Administration as anti-science and anti-health — a characterization that couldn’t be farther from the truth,” The White House said in a news release. “In January, The New York Times itself reported that ‘fluoride may be linked to lower IQ scores in children.’ Why did the Times not note its own prior reporting in its article on Secretary Kennedy?”
The White House highlighted several key points absent from the Times’ coverage: fluoride’s unique status as a medicinal additive to water, its limited necessity given topical benefits, and recent studies linking fluoride exposure to various health concerns, including reduced testosterone in boys and sleep disorders. Kennedy launched his “Make America Healthy Again” tour in Utah, which recently became the first state to prohibit fluoride in public water systems.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr: "The Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water."
"Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease."
"Fluoride… pic.twitter.com/0Pi3pqGUPR
— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) December 31, 2024
His upcoming visits to Arizona and New Mexico will address various health initiatives, including restrictions on processed foods in schools and SNAP benefit limitations. The tour includes meetings with Navajo Nation leadership to discuss wellness programs, food sovereignty, and innovative approaches to health education in schools. The Times has been contacted for their response to these developments.
