CNN anchor Jake Tapper says he would not do a town hall with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the antivaxxer activist who is inexplicably running as a Democrat, due to his efforts to spread anti-vaccine propaganda and the “lies” he tells “frequently” about how he’s been treated by the media.
“[Kennedy Jr.] spreads dangerous misinformation about childhood vaccines,” Tapper said during an interview on the “Pod Save America” podcast released Thursday.
Watch the full video below.
Tapper recalled a professional experience he had with Kennedy Jr. in 2005, when the latter first began spreading misinformation about the perceived dangers of vaccinations in children. Tapper, at the time an ABC News reporter, was approached to do a TV interview with Kennedy Jr. that would tie in with a Salon.com article that he wrote. The article, which has since been deleted due to its inaccuracy, made the false claim that the mercury-based thimerosal compound that at the time was found in vaccines was linked to childhood neurological disorders.
“I just dealt with him and he was so dishonest in that experience, And since then he lies about the experience frequently as an example of how the media is co-opted by Big Pharma.”
Tapper also took to CNN’s website Thursday to further explain the 2005 interaction after Kennedy Jr. brought it up on the “Jordan B. Peterson podcast” last week, during which he called Tapper a “shill for pharmacists.”
“He remains someone you cannot rely upon for facts, truth or accuracy,” Tapper wrote.
In addition to falsely linking child vaccines to autism, Kennedy Jr. has also spread misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccines.