Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and became one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines.

President-elect Donald Trump is nominating anti-vaccine activist and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling bureaucracy with control over a wide range of health and drug-related policies.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday he plans to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, another controversial candidate who could face a challenging confirmation process in the U.