Robert Malone, one of the eight new members named by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday to serve on the committee tasked with advising the U.S. government on vaccines, has a long track record of sharing conspiracy theories about life-saving COVID shots.
Malone, a former mRNA researcher who also runs a blog on Substack with over 357,000 subscribers that he has used to spread COVID misinformation, gained prominence spreading baseless claims about the pandemic, including in an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast in December 2021.
During the three-hour sitdown, Malone falsely suggested that former President Joe Biden lied about being vaccinated for COVID while receiving his booster on live TV, and claimed that Israel, where over two-thirds of the population had received the vaccine, had a higher mortality rate than Gaza and the West Bank, which had lower vaccination rates, despite figures pointing to the contrary, according to The New York Times. He also drew a comparison between the country’s pandemic policies and medical experiments in Nazi Germany, and accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of hypnotizing a third of the U.S. population into believing his recommendations on COVID.
Over 270 scientists, medical professionals, professors and science communicators wrote to Spotify, the company hosting Rogan’s podcast, calling on the company to moderate misinformation on the platform, citing the Malone interview as an example of damaging public trust in scientific research.
Malone’s account on X, formerly Twitter, was also suspended shortly before that interview after he posted a video on the platform questioning the safety of the Pfizer vaccine. It has since been restored.
Separately, Malone has also baselessly suggested that COVID vaccines are “not working” and could damage children’s brains, hearts and immune system, and also cause a form of AIDS, according to The Associated Press, another false claim.
Besides, Malone, who has a medical degree from Northwestern University, claims he is the inventor of mRNA vaccines — a statement that is widely disputed by scientists, including some who worked closely with him, according to the Times.
Kennedy, a fellow prominent vaccine skeptic, on Monday penned an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal announcing he was removing all members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which is tasked with assessing the safety and efficacy of vaccines to curb the spread of diseases.
“A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy wrote.
Two days later, he announced eight new members for the panel, including Malone, a move he claimed would help restore the public’s faith in vaccines.
“I will do my best to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor,” Malone said in response to his new assignment.