The White House on Tuesday slammed a New York Times report on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s review of recommendations to encourage states to remove fluoride from drinking water.

On Monday, the Times reported on Kennedy kicking off a nationwide tour calling on states to ban fluoride in drinking water, which the liberal media outlet characterized as "a move that would reverse what some medical experts consider one of the most important public health practices in the country's history."

The report suggested that the fluoride debate in the 1950s involved "conspiracy theories" about whether the practice was a Communist plot to cause brain damage, and that "some studies suggest that excess exposure to fluoride — at levels twice the amount recommended by the federal government — could harm infants." It also suggested Kennedy was ignoring the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which he oversees, because the agency listed fluoridation "as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century."

"The New York Times's story on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s review of fluoride recommendations is another thinly veiled attempt to falsely portray the Trump Administration as anti-science and anti-health — a characterization that couldn't be farther from the truth," The White House said in a news release.

"In January, The New York Times itself reported that 'fluoride may be linked to lower IQ scores in children.' Why did the Times not note its own prior reporting in its article on Secretary Kennedy?"

The news release also noted the Times' report had other omissions:

• Fluoride is the only chemical added to drinking water that does not treat the water; it is added to water only for medicinal purposes and that "most industrialized nations, including much of Europe, do not add fluoride to their water — and it has had no discernible detriment on their dental health."
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now concedes that fluoride's predominant dental benefit comes from topical contact with the outside of the teeth, not ingestion — making it unnecessary to ingest fluoride.
• In August 2024, the HHS National Toxicology Program concluded with "moderate confidence" that fluoride in water at just 1.5 mg/L is "consistently associated with lower IQ in children."
• Recent studies of the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys have found significant associations between low levels of fluoride and various indicators of chronic disease, including reduced testosterone levels in boys, increased inflammation, altered kidney and liver function, and increased sleep problems.

Kennedy kicked off the "Make America Healthy Again" tour Monday in Utah, which, last month, became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water. Kennedy also will visit Arizona and New Mexico, where he will address laws banning ultra-processed foods and dyes in public schools and restricting purchases of candy and soda using federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

He also will talk with Navajo Nation leaders on food sovereignty initiatives, wellness programs, and the first junk food tax implemented by a Native American tribe, as well as a charter school that integrates healthy eating and physical fitness into its daily student life.

Newsmax reached out to the Times for comment.

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