January 10, 2025
314 Action Launched Two New Ads featuring HI Gov. Dr. Green, Partnered with Medical Practitioners in Congress, and Launched Six-Figure Digital Campaign
(PHILADELPHIA, PA) — This week, 314 Action continued to spearhead the efforts against RFK Jr.’s nomination to Secretary of Health and Human Services. The organization released two new ads this week—a 60 second television ad and a two minute digital ad—and organized a press conference with Hawaii Governor Doctor Josh Green and medical practitioners in Congress. In December, 314 Action announced a six-figure digital ad campaign against RFK Jr., with the first ads targeting Facebook ads aimed at five GOP senators who are more likely to oppose the nomination.
Watch ‘Samoa’ here
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trump’s most dangerous nominee—we are doing everything to keep him as far away from American public health as possible,” said 314 Action President and Founder Shaughnessy Naughton. “Facts, data, and evidence-based knowledge should always be at the foundation of our policies, but even more so when overseeing health. But, RFK Jr. has disregarded medical expertise, time and time again, in favor of fringe beliefs and conspiracy theories.”
Naughton continued, “We’ve had the honor of working with Governor Dr. Green to help share his personal experience and RFK Jr.’s role during the American Samoa measles outbreak. We’ve also teamed up with the incredible medical practitioners from Congress to raise greater awareness to the dangers RFK Jr. poses. And while we’re proud of the work we’ve done, we will continue to work around the clock to fight his nomination and keep him from holding office.”
Dan Diamond
01/07/25
Key section:
- In June 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to the small Pacific island nation of Samoa, where he met with activists calling for Samoans to skip measles vaccines and opt for alternatives instead. Now that visit — and the country’s subsequent measles outbreak — are receiving new political attention, as Democrats and advocates seek to block Kennedy’s confirmation as America’s top health official.
- Thousands of Samoans were infected during the outbreak, and 83 people died of the vaccine-preventable disease — an episode that Democrats say could foreshadow a future American crisis, should Kennedy be elevated to a Cabinet position and sow doubts about vaccines here. Most of Samoa’s measles deaths were in young children.
“It’s a real-life example of what this individual will [do] as the nation’s leading health-care official,” said Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D), a physician who responded to Samoa’s outbreak five years ago and said he witnessed the deaths of measles-afflicted infants.
- 3.14 Action, a liberal-leaning advocacy group, this week began airing an ad featuring Green and others who condemned Kennedy for raising doubts about vaccines ahead of Samoa’s outbreak.
- The ads sponsored by 3.14 Action began airing Monday on Fox News, CNN and digital outlets.
Kennedy “is an immediate danger to public health and it’s clear that he cannot be trusted to keep Americans safe and healthy,” Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 3.14 Action, said in a statement. “Senators on both sides of the aisle must hold RFK Jr. accountable for his actions and reject his nomination to Secretary of Health and Human Services.”
Daniel Payne
01/08/25
Key section:
- Democratic doctors in Congress said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, would pose a danger to public health if confirmed.
- Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), a pediatrician, said the Democratic physicians in the House, who now number six, would form a caucus to elevate their voices in Congress.
- The lawmakers said Kennedy’s anti-vaccine activism was “beyond irresponsible” and “should disqualify” him to lead HHS in a press conference on Wednesday, suggesting a Kennedy confirmation would cause more to die of preventable diseases, referencing Kennedy longstanding efforts to discourage vaccination. Schrier joined Reps. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Herb Conaway (D-N.J.) and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, all physicians, as well as Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), a registered nurse, to publicly oppose Kennedy’s confirmation.
- Schrier said it’s possible the caucus Democrats envision could work with Republican doctors in a new bipartisan alliance, adding she has talked with Rep. John Joyce (R-Penn.), a dermatologist who now co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus.
- “We’re going to need a lot of unity,” Schrier said about the next four years, pointing to the importance of a bipartisan group of lawmakers urging vaccinations early in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brandy Zadrozny
01/09/25
Key section:
- More than 15,000 doctors have signed a letter urging senators to vote against confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of health and human services.
“The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine, and strengthening the integrity of our public health system,” the letter reads. “RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency — he is actively dangerous.”
“This appointment is a slap in the face to every health care professional who has spent their lives working to protect patients from preventable illness and death,” the letter says.
- This week, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, a physician, wrote in The New York Times that vaccine misinformation spread by Kennedy played a role in Samoa’s outbreak and warned that appointing him at the Department of Health and Human Services would jeopardize public health.
- Green appeared alongside members of Congress with backgrounds in public health Wednesday at a news conference opposing Kennedy organized by 314 Action, a progressive political action committee dedicated to electing scientists.
###