Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of the Department of Health and Human Services, downplayed the seriousness of an ongoing measles outbreak in Texas, falsely claiming that people had been hospitalized “mainly for quarantine” and misleadingly stating that the situation is “not unusual.

Health experts say there ought to be no outbreaks in the United States. “Each outbreak signifies a lapse in our public health defenses and poses serious risks, especially to children,” said Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as U.S. Surgeon General during the first Trump administration.