White House officials are reportedly telling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to cool it on his vaccine diatribes because it’s denting President Donald Trump’s pride in his handling of the pandemic.

The health and human services secretary’s repeated criticism of COVID-19 vaccines has apparently prompted White House officials to message the long-standing anti-vaxxer and his team with demands to “tone down his rhetoric,” The New York Times reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Aides reportedly made the move amid concerns over Kennedy’s ongoing crusade against inoculations among Trump’s allies and even the president himself, given the stock Trump apparently places in the Operation Warp Speed initiative, which promoted the vaccines during his first stint in the White House.

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