Gov. Jared Polis defended his praise for Robert Kennedy, Jr. as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, saying the country should be “more concerned” about pesticides, nutrition and prescription drugs. 

Polis earlier said he is “excited” by the news that Trump will appoint Kennedy as chief of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, suggesting the latter would be ally when it comes to advocating for several issues.

“Thank you, Governor Polis,” Kennedy replied on X. “I look forward to working with you. Let’s Make America Healthy Again.”

The Colorado governor’s statement Thursday drew both praise and criticism.

“Resign,” the political pundit Keith Olbermann said.

“Cool,” Elon Musk said.   

In a subsequent post on X, Polis said science “must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety.”

“But,” the governor added, “if as a country we follow the science we would also be far more concerned about the impact of pesticides on public health, ag policy on nutrition, and the lack of access to prescription drugs due to drug high prices.”

“This is why I am for a major shake-up in institutions like the FDA that have been barriers to lowering drug costs and promoting healthy food choices. Lest there by any doubt, I am vaccinated as is my family. I will hold any HHS Secretary to the same high standard of protecting and improving public health,” he also said. 

In praising Kennedy, Polis said he helped Colorado defeat vaccine mandates in 2019 and he will “help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” The governor also said he hopes Kennedy would “lean into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates).”

“But what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health,” Polis added in a tweet last Thursday.

“He will face strong special interest opposition on these, but I look forward to partnering with him to truly make America healthy again and I hope that we can finally make progress on these important issues,” the governor said. 

The governor     Polis also effectively urged people to withhold judgment on Kennedy. 

“Before you mock him or disagree, I want to share with you some quotes that if he follows through show why I’m excited,” the governor said.

Kennedy’s critics described him as “anti-vaccine,” pointing to his statement that “autism comes from vaccines.” He maintained that he’s “never been anti-vaccine.” On his website, he described his position on vaccines this way: “I’m not going to take anyone’s vaccines away from them. I just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine.”