WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scrapped with senators for greater than 4 hours Wednesday, attempting to defend all the pieces from his “conflicting” claims on vaccines to his stance on abortion to previous statements that the virus inflicting COVID-19 was “ethnically focused” in opposition to black and Caucasian individuals.
In his opening assertion, President Trump’s choose to run the Division of Well being and Human Companies declared that regardless of what his critics claimed he was not “anti-vaccine” and remained unapologetic about “asking uncomfortable questions” about polio and measles immunizations — which the highest Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee listening to known as “settled science.”
“I labored for years to boost consciousness concerning the mercury and poisonous chemical substances in fish and no one referred to as me anti-fish,” he advised senators. “I consider that vaccines play a important function in well being care. All of my children are vaccinated.”
Republicans on the panel rattled off points they have been wanting to work with RFK Jr. on ought to he be confirmed subsequent month — particularly the nominee’s plans to reverse the “grievous” state of US well being care — and appeared able to approve his nomination by the top of the listening to.
“When my uncle was president, 3% of People have been overweight. Right now, 74% of People are overweight or obese,” RFK Jr. advised Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “Epidemics aren’t attributable to genes. One thing is poisoning the American individuals, and we all know that the first perpetrator’s our altering meals provide.”
“He’s received each Republican vote on Finance. That’s huge,” a supply near the affirmation course of advised The Submit, whereas one other senior Senate GOP aide indicated Wednesday’s listening to had given RFK Jr. “optimistic” momentum.
However Democrats on the panel tried to hoist RFK Jr. on his personal petard, studying his personal phrases concerning the security and efficacy of vaccines again to him, whereas protesters halted the listening to twice to shout down the nominee.
Finance Committee rating member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) pointed to years of “conflicting” statements and books by which Kennedy expressed that “no vaccine” is “secure and efficient,” whereas claiming that he would “do something” to “return in time and never vaccinate” his kids.
“Are you mendacity to Congress at this time while you say you might be pro-vaccine, or did you lie on all these podcasts?” Wyden pressed.
“I mentioned, ‘There aren’t any vaccines which might be secure and efficient,’” Kennedy answered earlier than referring to one of many demonstrators. “And I used to be going to proceed, ‘for each particular person.’ Each medication has people who find themselves delicate to them, together with vaccines. He interrupted me at that time.”
Wyden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) additionally accused RFK Jr. of inflicting a measles outbreak on Samoa that killed 83 individuals by spreading the notion that the contagious illness was not “lethal.”
Trump’s nom countered that he arrived in 2019 after officers on the island had already banned the MMR vaccine for the contagious illness the earlier 12 months — although he later wrote a e-book in 2021 with the anti-vaccine advocacy group he based, Youngsters’s Well being Protection, that claimed measles was “mainly a rash” with a low fatality fee and could possibly be handled with Vitamin A dietary supplements.
“He’s attempting to minimize his function in Samoa,” Wyden seethed. “That’s not what the mother and father say. That’s not what [Hawaii] Governor [Josh] Inexperienced says.”
Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been rumored as a possible “sure” vote on RFK Jr.’s affirmation, nonetheless tore into the nominee for his previous affiliation with the anti-vaccine nonprofit.
“You could have began a gaggle referred to as the Youngsters’s Well being Protection. … On their web site, they’re promoting what’s referred to as ‘onesies,’” Sanders mentioned, exhibiting posterboards of the merchandise. “One in all them is titled ‘unvaxxed, unafraid.’ Subsequent one — and so they’re bought for 26 bucks apiece, by the best way — subsequent one is ‘no vaxx, no drawback.’”
“Your group is getting cash promoting a baby’s product to oldsters, which casts elementary doubt on the usefulness of vaccines,” the Vermont senator declared.
“Senator, I’ve no energy over that group. I’m not part of it. I resigned from the board,” RFK Jr. replied.
“That was only a few months in the past!” Sanders balked. “Are you supportive of those onesies?”
“I’m supportive of vaccines,” the nom mentioned flatly.
Different Democrats — together with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) who attended the College of Virginia’s regulation faculty with RFK Jr. — pushed Trump’s choose to account for his about-face on abortion and never talking out sufficient about local weather change regardless of his lengthy historical past of environmental activism and litigation, together with some previous lawsuits for chemical pollution spilling into rivers off of Trump’s golf properties.
“I consider it’s existential,” RFK Jr. mentioned of local weather change. “President Trump and I, from the start, from our first assembly, agreed to disagree on that concern.”
After having not backed any federal limits to abortion throughout his failed impartial presidential bid, Kennedy advised senators: “I agree with President Trump that each abortion is a tragedy. I agree with him that we can’t be an ethical nation if now we have 1.2 million abortions a 12 months.”
“I agree with him that the states ought to management abortion,” he added. “President Trump has advised me that he desires to finish late-term abortions; he desires to guard conscientious exceptions; and that he desires to finish federal funding for abortions overseas.”
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) later seized on the Kennedy scion’s reversal throughout his line of questioning.
“Mr. Kennedy, it doesn’t matter what you come right here and say; it isn’t true. That’s not reflective of what you actually consider, that you’ve got mentioned over decade after decade,” Bennet erupted.
RFK Jr. famous, nevertheless, that Trump had requested him to check the protection of the abortion tablet Mifepristone, doubtlessly signaling openness to reversing a transfer by the Biden administration increasing entry to the drug, which the Supreme Court docket upheld final 12 months.
Bennet additionally took RFK Jr. to activity later for feedback from July 2023, first reported by The Submit, that COVID-19 is “focused to assault Caucasians and black individuals.”
“I didn’t say it was intentionally focused,” RFK Jr. responded. “I quoted a examine, your honor. I quoted an NIH examine that confirmed that sure races have been disproportionately…”
“Did you say Lyme illness is a extremely possible a militarily engineered bioweapon?” Bennet additionally requested.
“I in all probability did say that,” Kennedy acknowledged.
Trump tapped the 71-year-old environmental lawyer in November to steer probably the most highly effective cupboard positions after the son of Democratic royalty gave the Republican’s 2024 marketing campaign a shot within the arm by endorsing him simply months earlier than Election Day.
When given the ground, RFK Jr. touted how his “Make America Wholesome Once more” motion would work to reform US taxpayer funds to “help wholesome meals,” “scrutinize the chemical components in our meals provide,” “take away monetary conflicts of curiosity,” and promote “gold-standard science” to “reverse the power illness epidemic.”
He additionally took a swipe at former President Barack Obama for rising Medicaid protection to US adults by way of the signing of the Inexpensive Care Act in 2010 — with little profit to “the poorest People.”
“Medicaid shouldn’t be working for People. And it’s particularly not working for the goal inhabitants,” RFK Jr. additionally mentioned. “One of the best docs is not going to settle for it, the most effective hospitals, and notably Medicaid was initially designed for a goal inhabitants: the poorest People. It’s now been dramatically expanded and the irony of the growth is that the poorest People at the moment are being robbed.”
Elsewhere, Kennedy additionally floated unusual developments on the well being care frontier, claiming that AI nurses would quickly be capable of fill gaps in rural protection with “diagnostics nearly as good as any physician.”
“At the same time as well being care spending climbs, outcomes throughout a spread of circumstances proceed to say no,” glossed Finance Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in his opening remarks, later including in his concluding assertion that RFK Jr. had “gone by way of essentially the most thorough vetting course of that any committee on this Congress places anyone by way of.”
“I believe that you’ve got come by way of properly and need to be confirmed,” Crapo added.
RFK Jr. will nearly definitely advance to the Senate ground for a vote — barring any unexpected opposition in his listening to Thursday earlier than the Senate Well being, Training, Labor and Pensions Committee — and possibly even choose up some unlikely Democratic allies alongside the best way.
“I very very like that slogan that you simply coined, ‘Make America Wholesome Once more,’” Sanders had advised the nominee within the listening to. “I strongly agree with that.”
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