Internet users often hear about double texting and ghosting in discussions about dating apps and relationships gone sour. However, a brief exchange about vaccine safety between Bill Nye and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has given new meaning to the phrases.
What did RFK Jr. send to Bill Nye?
In an interview with Men’s Health, Bill Nye shows “miles” of text from the U.S. Health Secretary RFK Jr., a staunch anti-vaxxer and alternative medicine aficionado. The two were introduced “many years ago” by a mutual friend, actor Ed Begley Jr.
Nye laughs during the interview as he exclaims that Kennedy has “no self-awareness.”
Kennedy sent study after study on the supposed link between autism and vaccines, which has been heavily disproven, to Nye. Fed up with the health secretary’s text chain, Nye responded, “OK, I’ll read your book. I think you’ve confused causation with correlation. Your friend, Bill.”
But Kennedy didn’t stop, though, prompting a curt response from Nye. “OK, no more texts,” he said.
To Nye’s dismay, Kennedy ignores his direct request for no more pseudoscience, sending another barrage of misinformation.
“So I cut him off. He does not have good judgment. He is not suited for this job,” Nye tells Men’s Health, sharing that he eventually had to ghost the health secretary.
Nye’s reveal of his text correspondence with Kennedy comes amid the Health Secretary’s move to hire a new slate of vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) panel.
He removed all 17 sitting members to replace them with eight new ones, many of whom gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for being skeptical of government policies and mRNA vaccines, per NPR. The committee is currently chartered for 19 members, so more names may be announced soon.
Bill Nye the Science Guy says he cut off texts from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
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What do fans think of the exchange?
On Reddit, users joked about the interaction between Nye and RFK Jr.
“RFK: Bill? Bill! Bill!” one writes.
“‘What is happening?!’ -Man who spent years trying to teach children not to be this [expletive] stupid,” another comments.
“The Science Guy has left the chat,” a third jokes.
Others praise Nye for how he handled the unwanted texts.
“Bill Nye is such a nice guy. So kind. Anyone else would have just blocked him and deleted his number,” a commenter writes.
“The moral of the story, don’t give RFK Jr. your cell number,” another says.
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