Kennedy Jr. faced questions about measles deaths in Pennsylvania after an aide attempted to prevent a reporter from asking about the outbreak. The exchange took place after a healthcare round table in Virginia Beach, where Kennedy appeared alongside Representative Jennifer Kiggans (R. As a reporter began asking about "five deaths, potentially six" related to measles in Pennsylvania, an aide quickly intervened.
"We're also not going to talk about measles," the aide said. The reporter pushed back, arguing that Kennedy should answer questions about the outbreak. "He’s the highest-ranking health official in the country.
He can answer that question. He’s a Cabinet secretary," the reporter said. Kennedy indicated that he was willing to respond before attributing the outbreak to missed vaccinations during the pandemic and pointing to statements made by the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci.
"The measles outbreak is occurring because so many people went unvaccinated during the COVID pandemic. And this is something that Anthony Fauci, in fact, predicted," he said. Kennedy's remarks referred to a private journal entry written by Fauci on May 6, 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were later discussed during a congressional hearing in July this year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 4,080 confirmed cases across the country as of October 8, compared with 2,289 for the whole of last year, and 285 in 2024. But Pennsylvania has emerged as one of the worst-affected states and a major focus of the outbreak, with more than 1,222 cases reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as of October 14. The state's outbreak has prompted a dispute between Kennedy and Governor Josh Shapiro (D.
Pa) over the number of deaths associated with the disease and the federal response. Pennsylvania officials have reported five measles-associated deaths this year, with a sixth suspected death announced in October. The CDC, however, has confirmed two measles-associated deaths nationwide in 2026, with other cases under review.
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