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Over the target: Nine ex-CDC directors attack RFK Jr. over shakeup at discredited agency

September 2, 2025 | | Print Article

The expert class reared its head once more in a scathing rebuke against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions at the CDC that, to many, proved little more than “the depth of the corruption.”

Heading into the 2024 presidential election, Kennedy’s endorsement of then-former President Donald Trump was widely received as the unification of outsiders against the establishment. Now, after a shakeup at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found officials resigning in solidarity with the termination of short-lived Director Susan Monarez, nine former directors and acting directors took a stand for the status quo to further propagandize against efforts to restore gold standard science.

Taking to the pages of the New York Times to slam the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), the former officials cut to the chase and titled their op-ed, “We Ran the CDC: RFK Jr. Is Endangering Every American’s Health.”

The hit piece was shared by an assistant director of the Biden administration’s Cancer Moonshot, Dr. Catherine Young, who summarized the “rare public rebuke … warning of the harm his rhetoric and attacks on public health is doing,” and said, “Their message: this is a time to rally to protect the health of every American.”

“What Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to the C.D.C. and to our nation’s public health system over the past several months — culminating in his decision to fire Dr. Susan Monarez as C.D.C. director days ago — is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country as ever experienced,” wrote the nine former bureaucrats. “Mr. Kennedy has fired thousands of federal health workers and severely weakened programs designed to protect Americans from cancer, heart attacks, strokes, lead poisoning, injury, violence, and more.”

They further lamented his “downplaying vaccines” amid the “largest measles outbreak” in a generation, the cancellation of grants, and the replacement of “experts… with unqualified individuals who share his dangerous and unscientific views.”

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“He announced the end of U.S. support for global vaccination programs that protect millions of children and keep Americans safe, citing flawed research and making inaccurate statements,” the op-ed claimed. “And he championed federal legislation that will cause millions of people with health insurance through Medicaid to lose their coverage. Firing Dr. Monarez — which led to the resignations of top C.D.C. officials — adds considerable fuel to this raging fire.”

The former officials went on to turn Kennedy’s own words against him as they cited remarks when the secretary swore Monarez in on July 31 and referred to her as “a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials.”

“But when she refused weeks later to rubber-stamp his dangerous and unfounded vaccine recommendations or heed his demand to fire senior C.D.C. staff members, he decided she was expendable,” they claimed.

Meanwhile, as the former officials touted Operation Warp Speed, even Trump’s long-held favor for the effort to fast-track vaccine production faltered Monday as he took to Truth Social and wrote, “It is very important that the Drug Companies justify the success of their various COVID Drugs. Many people think they are a miracle that saved Millions of lives. Others disagree! With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW.”

Speaking to the lack of transparency and the turmoil it caused, the president went on, “I want them to show [the numbers] NOW, to CDC and the public, and clear up this MESS, one way or the other!!! I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as ‘BRILLIANT’ as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why???” earning thanks from Kennedy for his “commitment to Gold Standard Science.”

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Likewise, reactions on social media were none-too-kind to standard bearers of the establishment dating back to 1977, including Biden-era CDC Directors Rochelle Walensky and Mandy Cohen, as many argued, “These previous directors all failed. It sounds like they think the failing should continue indefinitely.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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