Senate Democrats on Wednesday grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President’s Trump’s choose for Well being and Human Companies (HHS) secretary, throughout a contentious affirmation listening to, hitting the previous Democrat and impartial presidential candidate on previous statements supporting abortion entry and the idea that chemical compounds in consuming water may very well be making extra kids homosexual or transgender.
They got here ready with a bevy of transcripts and quotes from Kennedy displaying his often-controversial views on well being that fall far outdoors the mainstream.
Some, together with Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), have appeared open to confirming Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer with an extended historical past of vaccine skepticism.
Wednesday’s aggressive line of questioning from Finance Committee members Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) confirmed progressive senators need their celebration to be united towards Kennedy’s affirmation.
“I do think we have a chance,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) advised reporters Wednesday forward of Kennedy’s listening to. “It’s very unclear what will happen next in terms of Republican votes, but I believe — I believe, I don’t know — that Democrats will be united, and I think we can defeat this nomination, not for partisan reasons, not because I particularly want to poke the president in the eye on this one, but because I truly believe that if [Kennedy] runs HHS, that millions will die.”
In a letter to senators on Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy, former President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, known as the HHS nominee a “predator” who lacks the “relevant government, financial, management or medical experience” wanted to run the nation’s well being businesses.
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Vaccines
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vehemently denied being towards vaccines throughout Wednesday’s listening to, regardless of his lengthy historical past of casting hypothesis on vaccine efficacy.
“I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish,” stated Kennedy. “And I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committee’s rating member, pushed again towards Kennedy’s pro-vaccine claims, citing a 2023 podcast interview wherein he stated “no vaccine” is secure and efficient.
Kennedy claimed podcast host Lex Fridman had interrupted his response.
“He asked me, ‘Are there vaccines that are safe and effective?’ And I said to him, ‘Some of the live virus vaccines are,’ and I said, ‘There are no vaccines that are safe and effective,’ and I was going to continue, ‘for every person,’” Kennedy stated.
Wyden additionally pushed again on Kennedy’s protection that every one his kids are vaccinated, noting that the HHS nominee had beforehand expressed remorse over that motion.
“Mr. Kennedy, all of these things cannot be true. So, are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine, or did you lie on all those podcasts?” Wyden requested.
Transgender kids
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) requested Kennedy about feedback Kennedy made on his personal podcast that insecticides may very well be inflicting extra kids to establish as homosexual or transgender.
“I never said that,” Kennedy stated Wednesday, responding to Bennet.
In a June 2022 episode of “The RFK Jr. Podcast,” Kennedy stated endocrine disruptors — chemical compounds that intervene with the endocrine system’s common functioning — present in consuming water have had “impacts that people suspect are very different than in ages past about sexual identification among children and sexual confusion, gender confusion.”
People can encounter endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds by pesticides, however there isn’t any proof connecting them to being homosexual or transgender.
The conspiracy principle has picked up steam lately, with help from figures like Kennedy, far-right radio host Alex Jones and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Abortion
Each Hassan and Sanders pressed Kennedy on his previous help for abortion entry, regardless of the very fact he has agreed with Trump’s perception that “every abortion is a tragedy.” Each lawmakers recalled a 2023 marketing campaign go to Kennedy made to New Hampshire, the place he described himself as “pro-choice.”
“You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is, do you stand for that value or not?” Hassan requested. “When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?”
Sanders cited Kennedy’s obvious “U-turn” on abortion as a doable motive to not have “constant confidence in your consistency.”
“Senator, I believe, and I’ve always believed, that every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy stated.
Whereas nonetheless campaigning for the Democratic nomination, Kennedy did seem to falter in his stance on abortion, saying publicly that he would signal a 15-week or 21-week abortion ban. His marketing campaign later stated Kennedy had “misunderstood” the query, blaming the noisiness of the venue.
Antidepressants
Kennedy has beforehand steered a doable hyperlink between antidepressants and faculty shootings.
“There’s no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates. It happened, you know, it really started happening conterminous with the introduction of these drugs, with Prozac and the other drugs,” Kennedy stated in an interview with Invoice Maher.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) straight quoted this interview when questioning the nominee. Kennedy tried to distance himself from that comment, arguing that he had additionally questioned whether or not video video games and social media may be linked to high school shootings.
“Let’s just think about this for a minute, because you’re going to be — should you be confirmed — you would be responsible for CMS, which provides mental and behavioral health care to millions of Americans,” stated Smith, referring to the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Companies (CMS).
“Close to 40 percent of folks on Medicaid have a behavioral health condition, and you would be part of this administration that would be looking to cut Medicaid,” she added. “So, Mr. Kennedy, these statements that you’ve made linking antidepressants to school shootings, they reinforce the stigma that people who experience mental health every day face.”
When requested by Smith if he believes antidepressants trigger faculty shootings, Kennedy stated, “I don’t think anybody can answer that question. And I didn’t answer that question.”
