Board member of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine organization goes on multiple QAnon-affiliated shows to attack vaccines

Written by Alex Kaplan

Published

Updated

Brian Hooker of the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense has gone on multiple QAnon-affiliated shows to attack vaccines and promote an anti-vaccine book he co-authored with the organization’s founder, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Hooker, the chief scientific officer of Children’s Health Defense who also serves on its board, has appeared on two QAnon-affiliated shows a total of three times in recent months. (Kennedy took a leave of absence from the organization in April before launching his campaign in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary.) 

On September 4, Hooker appeared on QAnon supporter Mel K’s The Mel K Show. During the interview, Mel K praised the “tremendous” and “phenomenal” work done by Hooker, and urged people to give Hooker’s anti-vax book to “your friends, especially your friends that have children.” Hooker, who said it was “an honor” to be on the show, spent the interview attacking vaccines, including referencing Kennedy’s misleading claims about vaccines and mercury.

From the September 4, 2023, edition of The Mel K Show

MEL K (HOST): I’m very excited today. My guest is a first-time guest, but he has been an author and a researcher and a speaker for a very long time. He’s involved with the Children’s Health Defense and RFK Jr. and has been doing a tremendous work. And I’m very excited to welcome Brian Hooker to the show. Thank you for joining me, sir.

BRIAN HOOKER (CHILDREN’S HEALTH DEFENSE): Thank you so much, Mel. It’s really a pleasure to be here.

MEL K: Thank you. And I have been seeing your name for a long time. Of course, I’ve seen your books and gotten your books, so I know the work you’ve been doing. But for my audience that does not know you or your background, if you could tell them a little bit about who you are and how you ended up being on the front lines in this fight for, honestly, God, country, freedom, and medical freedom as well. 

HOOKER: Well, again, it’s an honor to be on your show. And, so, I’m Brian Hooker. I have a PhD in biochemical engineering that I got back in 1991, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. 

…

And so fast-forward into 2015. I became involved in what was called the World Mercury Project with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And I continued on. We actually started a mission regarding mercury, which is an additive still in the flu shot. And then we expanded our scope to look at other environmental toxins, other insults, and just especially the onslaught on children's health. And so in 2017, we became Children’s Health Defense. And I currently serve as chief scientific officer for Children’s Health Defense. 

MEL K: God, your work has been phenomenal.

Just days later, in early October, Hooker again went on The Mel K Show, promoting his book, saying it was “wonderful to be back,” and praising Mel K for “fighting the good fight.” In turn, Mel K called Hooker a “hero” who is “giving people information and both sides coming from a really in-depth science background, not ‘the science,’ as defined by Anthony Fauci, but actual science.”

From the October 3, 2023, edition of The Mel K Show

MEL K (HOST): I’m very excited to have my guest back today. You might know him from Children’s Health Defense. He has a great book out, Vax-Unvax, with RFK Jr. that all of you better be taking a look at as we keep going through this never-ending chaos of what is going on with the vaccines, with the CDC, the FDA. They're changing their stories constantly. More and more information coming out. So I am honored to welcome back Dr. Brian Hooker. Thank you for joining me, sir. 

BRIAN HOOKER (CHILDREN’S HEALTH DEFENSE): Thank you so much, Mel. It’s wonderful to be back. 

MEL K: Well thank you.

HOOKER: I appreciate it. I must have done something right the first time.

MEL K: He sure did. And the great part about you is what you are doing every single day, which is giving people information and both sides, coming from a really in-depth science background. Not “the science,” as defined by Anthony Fauci, but actual science.

The following month, Hooker went on RedPill78, hosted by QAnon supporter and January 6 insurrection participant Zak Paine. Hooker told Paine that it was a “privilege to be on your show tonight” and that “I’ve looked forward to this for a long time,” and Paine said Hooker’s work is “very important” and urged people to get his “excellent” book. Hooker also praised Kennedy, saying that while he was not allowed to endorse a political candidate, “I think the world of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. … and nothing would deter me from thinking the world of him. And I owe so much to him.”

From the November 25, 2023, edition of RedPill78

ZAK PAINE (HOST): Fredo also says, “Brian, feel free to avoid the question, but do you think — but who do you think is the best candidate in 2024 based on what you know, assuming that RFK Jr. has no shot.” If you don’t want to answer a political question, you don’t have to. But if you do, then —

BRIAN HOOKER (CHILDREN’S HEALTH DEFENSE): I better not.

…

HOOKER: I — you know, I can claim political ignorance. I’m just a nerdy scientist. But, you know, darn it all — and one of the reasons why is CHD is a 501(c)(3). So we don’t endorse political candidates, you know, directly. We don’t do direct endorsements. You know, obviously I think the world of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. —

PAINE: Sure.

HOOKER: And I will — and nothing would deter me from thinking the world of him. And I owe so much to him. And, you know, we started working in earnest together in 2015, and it’s been a glorious ride.

PAINE: Excellent, excellent. Well, I agree with you on those points. I think the work that he’s done and the attention that he’s brought to this issue is unparalleled.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Children’s Health Defense have repeatedly collaborated with QAnon figures, and anti-vaccine figures broadly have an ongoing relationship with QAnon supporters. Hooker is also not the first board member of Children’s Health Defense to appear on a QAnon-affiliated program. In December of last year, another board member, Sheila Ealey, appeared on the online QAnon channel American Media Periscope and attacked vaccines, with the host calling her a “good friend.”

Correction (12/8/23): This piece originally mistakenly referred to Children’s Defense Fund in one instance instead of Children's Health Defense. Children’s Defense Fund is a separate organization and unrelated to Children's Health Defense.