RFK Jr. Tells Senators in Tense Exchanges He Backs Vaccines (3)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the US Department of Health and Human Services, countered sharp criticisms from Democratic senators over his past questioning of vaccine safety by saying he would not stop anyone from getting polio and measles vaccines.

In a tense Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday that was interrupted by protesters so frequently that the chairman threatened to call on the police, Ron Wyden of Oregon told Kennedy “your lies contributed to the deaths of 83 children” from measles in Samoa.

Kennedy and his nonprofit were accused of supporting the spread of misinformation in Samoa about measles vaccine safety after two infants died in 2018 and the government temporarily suspended its immunization program and vaccination rates plummeted.

Kennedy said he never made a statement about vaccines while in Samoa. “Clearly I had nothing to do with the measles.”

Wyden, the ranking Democratic senator on the committee, asked Kennedy about a 2023 podcast where Kennedy said that “there’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.”

“Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden asked.

Kennedy said his comment was taken out of context and he had been about to qualify it before he was interrupted. Bringing it up again was “dishonest,” Kennedy said.

“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine,” he said.

There were also heated exchanges on abortion.

Kennedy, who had supportedabortion rights while he was running for president as a Democrat and third-party candidate, promised to back all the administration’s positions on abortion.

“I’m going to support President Trump’s policies,” Kennedy said. “The states should control abortion.”

He also promised to defer to Trump’s wishes on access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

“Whatever he does, I will implement those policies,” he said, noting that Trump has not yet taken a stance on how he wants to regulate it.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat from Nevada, asked whether federal law would protect women seeking abortions in an emergency.

“I don’t know. The answer to that is I don’t know,” Kennedy responded.

Kennedy also promised that his approach to the HHS will be “radical transparency” and promised to release information from various HHS agencies promptly without redactions.

Read More: Why Kennedy’s Anti-Vaccine Position Is So Worrying: QuickTake

In an exchange with Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana. Kennedy said most Americans do not trust the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The reason why people don’t trust public health agencies is because they haven’t been trustworthy,” Kennedy said.

“We need to tell Americans what we don’t know,” he added.

Protesters who interrupted the hearing were removed, including one who shouted, “He lies — first do no harm,” after Kennedy said he doesn’t oppose vaccines.

If confirmed by the Senate for the top health role in Trump’s administration, Kennedy could overhaul some of the nation’s public health practices.

He would have influence over the Food and Drug Administration, which decides whether to approve cutting-edge treatments, and the CDC, which makes recommendations for vaccine use.

The HHS also has widespread reach into the lives and health of all Americans, accounting for about a quarter of the federal budget through its grip on federal insurance programs for elderly and lower-income Americans.

After Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and backed Trump, he rebranded his campaign website as Make America Healthy Again, a play on Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign slogan. The move caused many critics of additives in US food supplies to vote for Trump.

Read More: RFK Jr.’s MAHA Mantra Wins Over Fans by Stoking Food Fears

At the hearing on Wednesday, Kennedy pointed to the number of “MAHA moms” in attendance who waved back at him before being cautioned by police.

Some of them chanted “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” when he entered the hearing room. And they later cheered when he talked about his vision of reducing the numbers of sick Americans.

“Trump asked me to end the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again,” he said to applause. “I am in a unique position to do that.”

(Updates with responses on CDC mistrust from the 17th paragraph.)

--With assistance from Antonia Mufarech, Fiona Rutherford, Jessica Nix and John Lauerman.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Robert Langreth in New York at rlangreth@bloomberg.net;
Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Cynthia Koons at ckoons@bloomberg.net

Anne Cronin, Catherine Larkin

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