FILE - Del Bigtree speaks against legislation to narrow exemptions to state-mandated vaccines during a rally at the state Capitol Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Albany, N.Y.Hans Pennink/APDel Bigtree, an Austin-based anti-vaccine advocate and media personality with deep ties to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in a recent interview that he wants his children — and others — to contract vaccine-preventable diseases including measles and polio.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Bigtree said he is “genuinely upset” when children are vaccinated because it reduces the likelihood that his own children will catch viruses such as chicken pox and measles. He said he believes children’s health “depends on them catching those live viruses.”
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Bigtree referred to measles and polio by name and said he would like his teenage son to contract those illnesses. He also indicated he had considered driving his unvaccinated family to South Carolina amid a historic measles outbreak so they could be exposed to the virus.
He said infection would give children the “Ferrari of immunity.”
Public health officials have consistently said vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent the spread of measles, polio and other infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends routine childhood immunizations, including the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
BROOKLYN, NY - JUNE 04: Anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree speaks with journalists before entering an anti-vaccine symposium in Brooklyn, NY, on June 4, 2019. (Photo by Yana Paskova/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Austin headquarters for national anti-vaccine group
Much of Bigtree’s advocacy work is based in Austin, where he has lived since 2019.
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Want more Statesman?Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.Add Preferred Source“I ran from California. I didn’t like the laws in California. I didn’t like the forced vaccination laws, especially for my kids,” Bigtree told the American-Statesman. “So I came to Austin, where children are still free.”
He founded the Informed Consent Action Network, or ICAN, one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine organizations. The nonprofit is headquartered on Lavaca Street in downtown Austin and has filed lawsuits across the country related to vaccine restrictions, such as seeking to overturn school vaccine mandates.
ICAN is tied to a political arm, ICAN Legislate, which focuses on legislative advocacy and is also based in Austin on Guadalupe Street.
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Ties to RFK Jr. and the “Make America Healthy Again” movement
Bigtree has been a close ally of Kennedy, who now serves as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
He previously served as communications director during Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign and was the initial CEO of the nonprofit that promoted the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
According to The Atlantic, Bigtree’s views reportedly contributed to his exit from formal leadership within the MAHA movement. Notably, Bigtree said he decided to leave his position after an exchange in which Kennedy stated that the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine. He responded that it was also “one of the most effective ways to cause autism.”
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Extensive scientific research has found no link between vaccines and autism. The claim originated from a now-retracted study published in 1998 and has been repeatedly debunked by major medical organizations.
Despite tensions, The Atlantic reported that Kennedy and Bigtree had dinner together late last year, and Bigtree was a featured speaker at the Children’s Health Defense annual meeting last fall. Children’s Health Defense is the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by Kennedy.
When asked how his views align with Kennedy’s, Bigtree told the magazine, “He recognizes the same thing I do,” adding, “We would be healthier if we were catching these illnesses.”
Calls to reduce federal vaccine recommendations
Bigtree also outlined goals he believes the anti-vaccine movement should pursue.
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