During his first confirmation hearing as President Donald Trump’s choice to be the next secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before senators on Wednesday. Democrats questioned him about his stance on vaccines.
A protester in the gallery briefly erupted as Kennedy attempted to shield himself from the anticipated line of questioning in his opening statement.
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry,” Kennedy stated.
Someone shouted, “You are!” and was escorted from the room.
Kennedy went on, “I am pro-safety, but I am neither. I spent years trying to educate people about the harmful chemicals and mercury found in fish, but that didn’t make me anti-fish. I think vaccines are essential to healthcare, and all of my children have had them.
Watch the hearing live.
Following a second disturbance by a protester, the audience was informed that the hearing will end so that police could look into any more audience outbursts.
Sen. Ron Wyden D-Ore, the Senate Finance Committee’s ranking member, and Kennedy got into a heated argument as Wyden tried to clarify Kennedy’s position on the measles vaccine.
“Is measles deadly, yes or no?” Kennedy did not explicitly respond to Wyden’s query. Kennedy argued once more that he had nothing against vaccines.
In a 2023 podcast, Kennedy stated, “There is no vaccine that is safe and effective.” Wyden questioned him about this statement.
None of them can be true, Mr. Kennedy. So, when you claim to be pro-vaccine today, are you lying to Congress? Wyden uttered those words.
Kennedy asserted that his podcast claims had been consistently refuted.
Additionally, he said that he would not discourage Americans from receiving specific vaccinations.
I am in favor of the measles vaccination. I am in favor of polio vaccination. Kennedy stated that as HHS Secretary, he would not take any action that would hinder or deter patients from taking medication.
Kennedy once mentioned the increase in chronic illnesses and food additives, but he also mentioned that his employer enjoys eating a McDonald’s hamburger and a Diet Coke.
Kennedy remarked, “You should be able to do that,” to some jeers at President Donald Trump’s preference for fast food. “But you should know what the impacts are on your family and your health.”
Kennedy, a former third-party presidential candidate, has attracted outside opposition from both the right and the left, while a number of Trump’s Cabinet choices have caused controversy.
He has been the target of derogatory funded advertising efforts, with conservatives denouncing his views on abortion and liberals condemning his anti-vaccine views.He has been publicly cautioned about by doctors and Nobel laureates, who have accused him of politicizing science.
His own family also gave him a scathing reprimand the night before his Senate Finance Committee hearing.
Caroline Kennedy, his cousin, penned a harsh letter on Tuesday requesting that the Senate reject his nomination. According to her, he was a predator who once took pleasure in a twisted spectacle of murder and anguish in which he fed his hawks by blending young mice and chickens. He allegedly lured other family members into addiction, she said.
She wrote that Bobby has an addiction to power and attention. Bobby builds a following by hypocritically advising other parents from vaccinating their children, taking advantage of the desperation of parents of ill children by vaccinating his own.
The letter was sent to the ranking members and chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, which will hear his nominee again on Thursday, and the Finance Committee, which will vote on it before it is sent to the Senate floor.
When the entire Senate votes on his nomination, Kennedy can only risk losing the backing of three Senate Republicans if Democrats unite against him. No one has publicly opposed him thus far.
In order to be confirmed to one of the most powerful positions in the U.S. government, he needs to overcome a wide range of obstacles this week. Kennedy would be in charge of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other significant organizations as head of HHS.
Critics claim that some of those responsibilities directly clash with his long-standing position as the head of Children’s Health Defense, which has developed into one of the biggest anti-vaccine groups globally. He now wishes to work for the federal government, which is the target of legal action filed by the group. Kennedy just revealed that he was no longer the group’s chair as of December.
Mike Pence, the former vice president of Trump, has been one of Kennedy’s most vocal opponents, particularly when it comes to abortion. The Kennedy scion, who first ran against President Joe Biden as a Democrat before registering as an independent, has stated that he supported minimal abortion restrictions.
He stated on X in May that although abortion has long been a contentious topic in America, there is now a growing consensus that it should be permitted up to a specific number of weeks and then regulated after that. The baby should have rights and be protected by society once it is viable outside the womb.
Kennedy’s confirmation has prompted advertisements from Pence’s organization, Advancing American Freedom, claiming that he is in favor of abortion on demand.
Kennedy was forced to file a financial disclosure form with the Senate, which made his numerous financial entanglements public last week. It sparked a new round of inquiries, with some Democrats claiming that, should he be approved, his possible payment in a pending lawsuit against the pharmaceutical behemoth Merck would constitute a clear conflict of interest.
RFK Jr. wants us to have faith in him to decide on millions of Americans’ medical care. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, told NBC News that he might earn millions of dollars from litigation against the same vaccine producers that he would oversee as health secretary. If RFK Jr. is preoccupied with filling his own coffers, he cannot protect Americans.
A request for comment regarding a possible conflict of interest was not answered by a Kennedy representative.
Last week, Kennedy revealed that he planned to retain a part in a possible settlement for a case against Merck involving the HPV vaccination Gardasil. WisnerBaum is the law firm that has Kennedy involved in the lawsuit.
In matters referred to the firm for contingency fees, I am eligible to collect 10% of the fees awarded. “During my appointment to the position of Secretary, I will not provide representational services in connection with the cases, I am not an attorney of record for the cases, and I am not trying these cases,” his filing stated.
Additionally, he stated that he will be compensated under the national Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
I will be paid in full and final by WisnerBaum for any settled cases involving claims against the United States, including claims made under the VICP, before I begin the responsibilities of my role.