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** Trump Picks RFK Jr. to Head HHS
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President-elect Donald Trump announced ([link removed]) Thursday that he had selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy, a lawyer and environmental activist, is an outspoken opponent of vaccines and founder of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that spreads anti-vaccine misinformation. We here at FactCheck.org have written a lot about both Kennedy ([link removed]) and his nonprofit ([link removed]) .

In August 2023, when he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, our SciCheck team published a three-part series on Kennedy's history of spreading health misinformation. (Kennedy dropped out of the Democratic race, ran as an independent, and then abandoned that race to support Trump with the likelihood ([link removed]) that he would have a role within Trump's administration.)

In his announcement, Trump claimed that RFK Jr. "will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research." But, as we've written, Kennedy has repeatedly distorted scientific research.

Here are the stories we did for that three-part series:

"FactChecking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ([link removed]) " In this article, Science Editor Jessica McDonald addressed several of RFK Jr.'s key talking points about vaccines in general. For example, Jessica writes that Kennedy frequently claims that vaccines are not tested in placebo-controlled trials or properly tested for safety. All vaccines are safety-tested prior to use. Some are tested in placebo-controlled trials with a saline control, but others are tested against other vaccines, since they are newer or combined versions of various shots.

"What RFK Jr. Gets Wrong About Autism ([link removed]) ." Here, science writer Kate Yandell did a deep dive into Kennedy's arguments about vaccines and autism. Although his claims have long been debunked, Kennedy keeps repeating his arguments, which could become even more compelling coming from someone in authority.

"RFK Jr.’s COVID-19 Deceptions ([link removed]) ." In the final part, Kate and science writer Catalina Jaramillo focused on Kennedy's numerous claims about the COVID-19 pandemic, many of which we had written about before and may be familiar to readers already.
HOW WE KNOW
For a story on a false claim that Elon Musk had banned author Stephen King from X, we used the platform's advance search feature ([link removed]) . This tool allows you to search for individual words, an exact phrase or hashtags on any account or multiple accounts. You can also exclude words from your search and narrow your search to a specific time frame.
FEATURED FACT
In 2020, which had record-high turnout, Joe Biden won both the electoral and popular votes, receiving 81 million votes to Trump’s 74 million. In 2024, not all the ballots have been counted yet. As of Nov. 13, Trump won both the electoral and popular votes, receiving 76 million votes ([link removed]) to Vice President Kamala Harris' 73 million.
WORTHY OF NOTE
The Science & Technology Action Committee, a nonpartisan coalition of about two dozen leaders in science, health, business, academia and technology, recently formed a task force to produce a Vision for American Science and Technology, or VAST.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of FactCheck.org, has been named to the 60-member task force ([link removed]) .

Other VAST members include Dean Antonia M. Villarruel of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.

You can read the APPC press release ([link removed]) for more information about the task force.
REPLY ALL

Reader: There are reports that Trump plans reparations for white students denied admission to colleges. Is this true?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: You are referring to remarks that former President Donald Trump made more than a year ago that have received attention this week now that he has won the election.

In a video posted to his campaign website ([link removed]) in July 2023, Trump criticized U.S. universities and colleges for allegedly “indoctrinating America's youth,” singling out in particular schools that have diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs that are designed to combat systematic racism and promote a more inclusive society.

According to a Trump campaign press release that accompanied the video, Trump vowed “to pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination and will advance a measure to have schools that continue these illegal and unjust policies fined up to the entire amount of their endowment.”

In the video, Trump said, “Furthermore, I will direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination and schools that persist in explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity will not only have their endowments taxed, but through budget reconciliation, I will advance a measure to have them fined up to the entire amount of their endowment. A portion of the seized funds will then be used as restitution for victims of these illegal and unjust policies, policies that hurt our country so badly.”

After Trump’s victory, MSNBC host Joy Reid posted ([link removed]) part of Trump’s video on TikTok on Nov. 12 and, in her video, Reid said: “So in other words, reparations for white people.”


** Wrapping Up
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Here's what else we've got for you this week:
* "Musk Did Not Ban Stephen King from X, Contrary to Online Claims ([link removed]) ": Social media posts falsely claim that Elon Musk banned author Stephen King from X, the social media platform owned by Musk. The rumor that King was banned originated on a satirical website. King’s X account remains active, and he used it on Nov. 13 to debunk the claim.
* "Posts Falsely Claim CBS News Reported ‘Cheating’ in Election ([link removed]) ": Some social media posts falsely claimed that CBS News reported there was “cheating” in the 2024 presidential election that benefitted President-elect Donald Trump. We found no evidence of such a report, and a CBS News spokesperson said the outlet “did not report or say there was cheating in the election.”
* "Both Sides Distort Incomplete Vote Counts to Falsely Suggest Election Fraud ([link removed]) ": Ballots were still being counted in the days following the 2024 election, but a claim that there was a suspicious gap of 15 million to 20 million votes as compared with the 2020 election has been circulating on social media. There is no such large gap — states were still counting their ballots — and even if there are fewer votes for the Democratic candidate than there were four years ago, that doesn’t prove fraud.

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