Kennedy’s 2019 Samoa trip, tied to vaccine skepticism and embassy help, contradicts his Senate claims amid rising U.S. measles cases.

Newly obtained emails reveal that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2019 trip to Samoa—where he claimed it had nothing to do with vaccines—was influenced by concerns about vaccine safety and involved coordination with anti-vaccine advocates and U.S. Embassy staff. The visit occurred amid heightened vaccine skepticism following a 2018 MMR vaccine incident that led to infant deaths, and was followed by a deadly measles outbreak that killed 83 people, mostly children. Documents show embassy officials helped facilitate the trip, and Samoan health officials confirmed Kennedy expressed skepticism about vaccines. These findings contradict his Senate confirmation testimony and fuel criticism over his credibility as Health and Human Services Secretary, as measles cases surge in the U.S., including over 875 in South Carolina.