RFK Jr. said Trump 'promised' him control of health agencies. A Trump aide refuted that.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on a call Monday that former President Donald Trump had "promised" to put him in charge of public health agencies. Kennedy, once a 2024 presidential candidate and now a devoted Trump supporter, earned a reputation for being critical of vaccines and raising questionable claims about COVID-19.

Trump's transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick said Wednesday Kennedy would not be in any such position.

“He’s not getting a job for HHS,” Lutnick said in an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

RFK on the 2024 ballot: Supreme Court rejects RFK Jr.'s effort to get off the ballot in Michigan, Wisconsin

Along with the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy earlier this week mentioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and other subagencies that would supposedly be under his control in a second Trump administration.

"He's not going to be the (HHS) secretary, no," Lutnick told CNN. "That's not what he wants to do ... He just wants data."

Lutnick said Kennedy's real goal was not a cabinet position, but rather access to data from these agencies in an attempt to paint vaccines as unsafe and take them off the market.

Trump named Lutnick, a billionaire entrepreneur and megadonor, as one of five co-chairs leading planning efforts should Trump return to the White House.

In his interview Wednesday, Lutnick said he had spoken with Kennedy for hours. He endorsed the former Democrat's unsubstantiated claims, including that vaccines led to a rise in autism diagnoses.

A spokesperson for Kennedy's suspended campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. 'promised' control of health agencies, but Trump aide refuted