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In 2019, shortly after Kennedy promoted his anti-vaccine agenda in Samoa, 83 people on the island died of measles.
By Chris Walker ,
June 26, 2026
More evidence has emerged that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), likely lied during his Senate confirmation hearings in early 2025 regarding his visit to the island nation of Samoa several years ago.
A newly disclosed email obtained by The Guardian demonstrates that Kennedy and his colleague Michael Graven had traveled to Samoa to examine health outcomes on the island, likely in hopes that it would help promote their anti-vaccine agenda. Kennedy had said otherwise during his Senate confirmation last year.
Samoa halted use of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines for children in 2018. Upon the onset of deaths from that decision, the country restarted the program in 2019, though anti-vaccine sentiment continued to grow among residents
Kennedy and his team visited the island in 2019. Following his visit, 83 people died of measles, mostly children.
Graven stated to Samoan officials in that email that he and his team “all look forward to the opportunity to be of service to the people of Samoa with our mission.” Kennedy and Graven were coming to the island specifically to “evaluate outcomes associated with the recent discontinuity in vaccinations,” he added.
A newly disclosed email obtained by The Guardian demonstrates that Kennedy and his colleague Michael Graven had traveled to Samoa to examine health outcomes on the island, likely in hopes that it would help promote their anti-vaccine agenda. Kennedy had said otherwise during his Senate confirmation last year.
Samoa halted use of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines for children in 2018. Upon the onset of deaths from that decision, the country restarted the program in 2019, though anti-vaccine sentiment continued to grow among residents
Kennedy and his team visited the island in 2019. Following his visit, 83 people died of measles, mostly children.
Graven stated to Samoan officials in that email that he and his team “all look forward to the opportunity to be of service to the people of Samoa with our mission.” Kennedy and Graven were coming to the island specifically to “evaluate outcomes associated with the recent discontinuity in vaccinations,” he added.
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After Kennedy was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead HHS in January 2025, he faced scrutiny over his anti-vaccine disinformation campaign. Kennedy sought to downplay his anti-vaccine beliefs during his confirmation hearings, claiming that he visited Samoa to introduce health officials to a new “state of the art” medical information system.
“I went there, nothing to do with vaccines,” Kennedy added.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) challenged that narrative, noting that several Samoan officials had said that Kennedy helped promote vaccine skepticism during his visit. Kennedy denied that was true in his statements before the Senate.
“You cannot find a single Samoan who will say, ‘I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy,'” he said under oath.
“That’s not what the parents say,” Wyden countered.
In that same testimony, Kennedy disputed that the dozens of deaths on the island were related to measles at all.
“Eighty-three people died. … Most of those people did not have measles. We don’t know what was killing them,” Kennedy said. He then falsely claimed that tissue samples sent to New Zealand found that the deaths were unrelated to measles.
In response to that testimony, Alec Ekeroma, the former Director-General of Health in Samoa, said Kennedy’s words were a “total fabrication of what actually happened,” noting that there wasn’t any record of tissue samples even being sent to New Zealand.
“It’s measles that killed those people,” Ekeroma added.
The newly reported email adds to the body of evidence that Kennedy lied during his Senate hearings.
Earlier this year, an email from the State Department was discovered that discussed Kennedy’s plans to travel to the island. Kennedy, the email stated, was visiting in order “to raise awareness about vaccinations, more specifically some of the health concerns associated with vaccinating (from his point of view).”
Another email from a UNICEF representative also indicated that Kennedy’s visit was “to investigate the safety of the vaccine.”
Perjury, or lying while under oath, is a criminal offense, including when it occurs while testifying before Congress. While there is not yet a serious effort to hold Kennedy accountable for his apparent lies during his testimony, the penalty for perjury includes fines or five years’ imprisonment, or both, depending on the severity. It is also an impeachable offense.
Other evidence of Kennedy appearing to lie to Congress abounds, including instances unrelated to his views on vaccines.
In April, Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Alabama) asked Kennedy to answer for a statement he made two years prior, in a podcast interview, in which he had said that Black children being treated with mental health medication should be “re-parented.”
“Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence,” Kennedy said in that interview, adding that the best way to treat children in those situations is to remove them from their families.
After Sewell cited Kennedy’s own words during the hearing, Kennedy claimed she was “just making stuff up,” and that he didn’t even “know what re-parenting means.”
Sewell asserted that she was “absolutely not making this up,” and proceeded to play the clip of Kennedy’s statement.
The denial from Kennedy indicated that he had either forgotten what he had said in that interview from just two years ago, or had lied directly to a lawmaker during a congressional hearing.
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