With Kennedy on the Ballot, Vance Talks Public Health in Michigan

Senator JD Vance of Ohio echoed some of the language of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on public health and the environment during a campaign rally on Tuesday in Michigan, a state where Mr. Kennedy — an ally of former President Donald J. Trump — was still on the ballot as a third-party presidential candidate and potential spoiler in the crucial battleground state.

Appearing in Detroit, Mr. Vance spoke of the importance of having clean air and clean water, and suggested that Americans relied more on antidepressants when compared with other countries. He also spoke of an American epidemic of obesity and the occurrence of “weird childhood diseases” that he said had not affected Americans 30 or 50 years ago.

“Does that suggest that we’re putting too much weird stuff in our water? Or too much weird stuff in our food supply?” Mr. Vance asked the crowd. He then praised Mr. Kennedy and the slogan he brought to the Trump campaign: “Make America healthy again.”

Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for Mr. Vance, said the senator “worries a great deal about the impact processed foods are having on all Americans, including rising rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes,” as well as “the impacts of microplastics and other contaminants in our water.”

Mr. Kennedy often raised similar concerns during his run for president this year, saying that federal health agencies should be doing more to target chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. Mr. Kennedy has also frequently criticized the pharmaceutical industry and federal regulatory agencies and he has raised concerns about chemicals in the food supply.

Those concerns have at times veered into conspiracy theories, most prominently with his widely debunked claims that childhood vaccinations lead to chronic