Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a blunt assessment of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during a Friday appearance on “The Alex Marlow Show,” saying the agency has lost the confidence of the American people and outlining a trust-first strategy to restore its standing.
“No one trusts the CDC,” Kennedy said on the Breitbart-hosted program, arguing that the agency’s credibility crisis is the root cause of public resistance to its guidance. His remedy, he explained, is to look across the Atlantic.
A European Model for Compliance
Kennedy pointed to European public health agencies as a template for rebuilding trust without resorting to coercive measures.
“We’re trying to do is to do what the Europeans do,” he said. “They don’t have mandates there and yet they have a lot—they have very high levels of compliance because people trust the public health agency.”
His comments suggest a shift away from federal mandates toward a model where voluntary adherence flows from institutional credibility. Kennedy framed trust as the foundation of effective public health policy, implying that mandates are a symptom of a broken relationship between government and citizens.
Context and Implications
The remarks arrive amid ongoing debate over federal health guidance and the role of agencies like the CDC in shaping public behavior. Kennedy, who has long criticized public health institutions, has made institutional reform a central theme of his tenure at HHS.
By invoking Europe, he signaled a preference for less top-down intervention and greater emphasis on persuasive communication—an approach that could appeal to both skeptics of federal overreach and public health advocates weary of compliance battles.
“The Alex Marlow Show” airs weekdays from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern on the Salem Radio Network, with a televised version at 9 p.m. Eastern on Salem TV. The podcast, “The Alex Marlow Show Presented by Breitbart News,” is released weekdays at 9 p.m. Eastern and is available on YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
Kennedy’s full interview on the program includes more details on his vision for the CDC and the broader public health landscape.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/15/exclusive-robert-kennedy-jr-no-one-trusts-the-cdc-heres-how-to-restore-institutional-trust/