Bill Nye says RFK Jr. spammed his phone with miles of anti-vax texts

RFK Jr. and Senator Hassan get in heated exchange

At a Senate hearing over Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.'s leadership of the HHS, Senator Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire got into a heated back and forth over the expertise of a health advocate RFK has worked with.

Bill Nye the Science Guy had a story to tell about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a recent Men’s Health profile. 

Nye, best known for teaching science to middle-schoolers on his TV show "Bill Nye the Science Guy," was speaking to journalist Ryan D’agostino for a profile called "Can Bill Nye Save Science?" when he pulled out his phone. It was an old text chain with "miles and miles of texts" … "screen after screen."

The texts, Nye said, were all from now Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and all of them questioned the safety of vaccines. 

What did Bill Nye say about RFK Jr.?

What they're saying:

"This is real," Nye says in the interview, laughing at the sheer number of messages and links sent by RFK Jr.

RELATED: RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' report cited studies that don't exist

"Just no self-awareness," he says. "And if you read these articles he sent, they’re all this speculation about autism and just cause-and-effect, and mercury in vaccines, that maybe there’s a connection. I wrote him back and said, ‘Okay, I’ll read your book. I think you’ve confused causation with correlation. Your friend, Bill.’ And he sent this," Nye recalls, pointing to more miles of text messages from RFK. 

Bill Nye at the Global Citizen NOW event on April 30, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images)

"So I wrote, ‘Okay, no more texts.’ And he started again! So I cut him off."

Nye didn’t hold back in his frustration over RFK’s stances on vaccines and the Trump administration’s perceived attacks on science. 

"He does not have good judgment. He is not suited for this job," Nye said. 

"There’s an outbreak of measles in Texas. Did you hear about this? It was a religious sect that has historically low vaccination rates. And the argument from the other side is: They have rights not to get vaccinated. No, you don’t! And unvaccinated people can, and usually do, spread a disease. And that’s why we have these rules, for public health! It’s not arbitrary. It’s not about your rights. It’s about my rights, people."

RELATED: HHS, led by vaccine skeptic RFK Jr., cancels contract to fight flu viruses

"The other thing that’s so remarkable about what’s going on now—I went to elementary school with a guy who had polio. You do not want polio! And the reason you don’t get polio is because of a vaccine that was discovered that keeps you from getting polio! What is wrong with you, man?"

Nye got even more fired up when he brought up RFK’s desire for the Food and Drug Administration to remove restrictions on unpasteurized, or raw, milk. 

"And then this thing where people want to drink raw milk. No, you don’t! This is very well understood! Louis Pasteur! You guyyys! What is happening?"

Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Joe Biden in January. 

"It’s just an amazing time," he said. 

RFK Jr.’s vaccine skepticism

RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine panel

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all members of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee. LiveNOW's Andrew Craft breaks it down with Politico's Lauren Gardner.

The backstory:

Kennedy is widely known as a vaccine skeptic, most recently making headlines after he removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines.

RELATED: RFK Jr.'s newest CDC vaccine panel includes critics of COVID shots, lockdowns

Kennedy's decision to "retire" the 17-member panel was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations.

Kennedy replaced the panel with his own picks, including a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and transformed into a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines.