On its website, The City Club of Cleveland euphemistically states that “U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been responsible for some of the most sweeping public health reforms in modern history.” This is part of an introduction to its May 7 speaker, an intro that reads as if it were written by RFK Jr.’s publicist rather than by an organization committed to creating “conversations of consequence to help democracy thrive.”

The word “reforms” connotes positivity and betterment; there is no mention of the damage Kennedy has done in firing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s expert vaccine advisory committee; ending COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women; canceling billions in research and public health grants and laying off thousands of employees.