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A writer who recently published an opinion column in the Los Angeles Times that warned of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Health and Human Services Secretary says the paper gave the piece a misleading headline and omitted portions of his argument in order to promote Kennedy.
The paper’s billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, posted the piece on social media, which was headlined “Trump’s healthcare disruption could pay off — if he pushes real reform.” Soon-Shiong added his own commentary as part of a string of pro-Kennedy posts, saying the president’s pick “is our best chance of doing so.”
The author of the piece, Eric Reinhart, said in an interview with POLITICO that he was advocating for a “populist” approach to health care — but clearly not arguing for Kennedy’s confirmation. He added that late changes to the piece — in particular the choice of headline and photo, which he said he did not see or approve prior to publication — happened “in such a way that it distorts and changes the intended meaning” of his story.
“My suggested title, which reflects the content I expected to go to press, was ‘RFK Jr’s Wrecking Ball Won’t Fix Public Health,’” Reinhart wrote on X, in response to Soon-Shiong. “A vote for RFK Jr. is a vote for nothing but chaos, the opposite of the essential public-systems building I argue for in the OpEd, and mass death.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Times pushed back on Reinhart’s assertion that he did not approve of the piece before it was published.
“Our editors in Opinion work with op-ed contributors to edit pieces for length, clarity and accuracy, among other things,” vice president of communications Hillary Manning said in a statement. “No op-ed pieces are published, as edited, without the permission of the author. That includes the op-ed written by Eric Reinhart.”
Reinhart, a political anthropologist who is also a psychoanalytic clinician and social psychiatrist and has written for a number of other media organizations, said that he is very familiar with the publishing process and understands that an editor has final say on what goes to print and ultimately controls the headline and photo.
Some of the changes to the piece, which he said included cuts to portions in which he made clear Kennedy was the wrong choice to lead HHS, would have been fine with him if the piece ran with his suggested headline.
But instead, left with a headline that was more ambiguous and a photo of Kennedy at his confirmation hearing, Reinhart feels “quite concerned that this was actually a deliberate manipulation.”
These changes, Reinhart said, left open the possibility that he was actually endorsing Kennedy rather than warning of the threat he poses while calling for a new public health care model in the U.S.
“What makes it concerning to me is the background of the owner’s politics and known record of interference and editorial processes of the newspaper,” Reinhart said, referencing Soon-Shiong’s recent interventions in editorial decision-making. Tension has been building among staffers over his ownership of the paper for years.
Soon-Shiong on Tuesday gave his total support to Kennedy, saying on X, “I truly believe he has the American public’s best interests at heart.”
“I have worried about toxins and the cause of cancer my entire career,” he added. “As a physician scientist I really hope he is confirmed tomorrow.”
Reinhart made clear that he believed no contracts or agreements were violated by the processes of his op-ed, but said the entire situation was “not consistent with the spirit of editing” given the proximity of the publishing time to Kennedy’s hearing.
“The depressing public health issue that was unfolding just as the op-ed was published,” he said, “which is, ‘are we or are we not going to confirm RFK Jr. for this incredibly important position for which he is massively and dangerously under qualified?’”
English (US)