US Secretary of Well being and Human Companies nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies throughout a Senate Finance Committee listening to on his nomination to be Well being and Human Companies Secretary, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 29, 2025. Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got here beneath withering assault from Democratic senators on Wednesday over his historical past of selling vaccine misinformation and his sudden embrace of anti-abortion insurance policies throughout a high-stakes affirmation listening to to change into President Donald Trump’s well being secretary.
The 71-year-old Kennedy scion and former environmental lawyer is vying to steer a division overseeing greater than 80,000 workers and a $1.7 trillion price range, simply as scientists warn of the rising risk of chook flu triggering a human pandemic.
Critics argue he’s dangerously unqualified, citing his promotion of debunked claims linking childhood vaccines to autism, his suggestion that HIV doesn’t trigger AIDS, and accusations that he stoked anti-measles vaccine sentiment in Samoa throughout a 2019 go to, months earlier than a lethal outbreak.
READ: Trump chooses Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well being secretary
Additionally they level to what they name a evident battle of curiosity: profitable consulting charges from legislation corporations suing pharmaceutical firms, as disclosed in his monetary filings.
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Kennedy pushed again in opposition to the criticism in his opening assertion, insisting, “Information stories have claimed that I’m anti-vaccine and anti-industry — I’m neither. I’m pro-safety.”
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However he appeared flustered as Democrats took turns confronting him with previous statements that contradicted his claims, whereas additionally accusing him of hypocrisy over his sudden reversal on abortion.
READ: RFK Jr. says Trump would push to take away fluoride from ingesting water
“I requested Mr Kennedy to reconcile his many anti-vaccine statements together with his handful of pro-vaccine statements,” stated Democratic Senator Ron Wyden. “As a substitute, he gave us a phrase salad and ducked the difficulty.”
Senators are set to proceed questioning Kennedy on Thursday.
MAHA Mothers
Kennedy discovered steadier footing when selling his “Make America Wholesome Once more” (MAHA) agenda — a play on Trump’s signature slogan — emphasizing the necessity to fight the nation’s persistent illness disaster by way of more healthy consuming and environmental duty.
His remarks drew cheers from supporters in attendance, together with from a bunch calling themselves “MAHA Mothers.”
“People are the sickest individuals on Earth,” he declared. “Why are we seeing these explosions in diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, neurological illnesses, melancholy — all this stuff which are associated to toxins within the atmosphere?”
But he notably tempered a few of his positions to court docket skeptical Republicans.
Though he has lengthy championed greener farming practices, he assured rural-state senators that any coverage modifications can be made with farmers’ enter — and pledged assist for Trump’s anti-abortion agenda, together with a assessment of the protection of the long-approved abortion tablet mifepristone.
“I’ve by no means seen any main politician flip on that challenge fairly as rapidly as you probably did when President Trump tapped you to change into (well being) secretary,” Senator Bernie Sanders shot again, declaring that Kennedy had, till just lately, been in opposition to authorities limits on abortion.
“Yet another time for these within the again: Mifepristone is a protected treatment,” Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley added on Threads.
Historical past of misinformation
For many years, Kennedy — broadly often called RFK Jr. — has made false claims about vaccines, together with calling Covid-19 pictures “the deadliest ever made.”
However his unorthodox well being beliefs prolong far past vaccines. They embrace questioning the position of germs in infectious illness and staunchly advocating for uncooked milk consumption, whilst chook flu spreads amongst US cattle and has been detected in unpasteurized milk.
Kennedy initially launched an impartial bid within the 2024 presidential election, setting the race ablaze with a string of weird revelations.
A resurfaced court docket deposition detailed his declare of recovering from a parasitic mind worm, whereas his daughter recalled an incident wherein he used a chainsaw to decapitate a useless whale.
His resolution to again Trump after dropping out of the race triggered outrage inside his circle of relatives.
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“His basement, his storage, and his dorm room had been the facilities of the motion the place medicine had been obtainable, and he loved displaying off how he put child chickens and mice within the blender to feed his hawks,” his cousin Caroline Kennedy wrote in a scathing letter to senators forward of his listening to.
