It’s amazing when your childhood heroes pull through for you in the face of madness. If you’ve been following the news, you may not be surprised by the catastrophic impact RFK Jr. is having in the face of American healthcare. From nonexistent studies showing up in his reports to changing COVID vaccine recommendations, we have a lot to fear. Bill Nye wasn’t having any of it in a recent string of texts he received from RFK Jr., and he let it be known.
Two people you would never expect to correspond with one another are RFK Jr. and Bill Nye, seeing as one is known for embracing science and the other is known for rejecting science. It sounds like the start of a joke, you know? However, the two were introduced several years ago by actor Ed Begley Jr. As such, RFK Jr. came upon Bill Nye’s phone number. This set off an awkward barrage of texts that would eventually drive Nye mad and speak about it in an interview with Men’s Health.
Apparently, Kennedy was sending Nye tons of studies on a link between autism and vaccines, which, as you know, has been widely disproven in the scientific community. Nye was irritated by the exchange and responded, “OK, I’ll read your book. I think you’ve confused causation with correlation. Your friend, Bill.”
What did RFK Jr. do? He thought it was an invitation to continue sending “studies.” Nye then sent back, “OK, no more texts” hoping that it would end there.
However, Kennedy, being the absolute boomer he is, couldn’t take the hint that Nye was getting annoyed. RFK Jr. continued to send misinformation, which caused Nye to finally react by cutting him off. He stated, “He does not have good judgment. He is not suited for this job.” Ultimately, Bill Nye decided ghosting the health secretary was good for his mental health.
Users turned to Reddit over the hilarious encounter and knowing that Nye stood his ground. One person observed, “Bill Nye is such a nice guy. So kind. Anyone else would have just blocked him and deleted his number.” Another quipped, “The moral of the story, don’t give RFK Jr. your cell number.” After seeing this exchange, I’m definitely joining the praise of Bill Nye the Science Guy!