Democrats forcefully pushed back against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Kennedy is Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed, he will have significant power over the American healthcare system. And while Kennedy has no professional experience in the healthcare field, he has garnered fame among the right with a long list of views some have described as “conspiracy theories”.
RFK, Jr. is well known as a vaccine skeptic.
During the pandemic, he falsely claimed that the vaccine was approved by the CDC “without any scientific basis.”
Kennedy even suggested that Black Americans should be on a different vaccine schedule because they have a “better immune system”. Falsehoods that Black Americans require less medical care than White Americans often lead to deadly disparities in health outcomes.
He has also been critical of childhood vaccines, frequently suggesting they lead to autism. On several occasions, Kennedy even suggested that young people on anti-depressants were more likely to be school shooters.
Democrats take issue with Kennedy’s past statements and current financial interests.
Kennedy was called out by multiple Senators for his various statements throughout the hearing. Democratic Colorado Senator Michael Bennet called Kennedy out for previous statements where he referred to Lyme’s disease as a “militarily engineered bioweapon” and his claims that toxins in drinking water lead to children identifying as transgendered.
“This is a matter of life and death,” Bennet said. “It’s too important for the games you’re playing.”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren grilled Kennedy over more than $2 million he’s made by serving as a spokesperson for anti-vaccine lawsuits. Warren made clear that RFK, Jr. could enrich himself as HHS secretary by taking actions that would help expand these lawsuits. She asked him to pledge that he would not take any money from an organization or lawsuit related to his work during his time as secretary or for four years after. Kennedy refused to make that promise.
The nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and the son of former Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, RFK, Jr. has spent a lifetime in the political spotlight. He ran for the Democratic nomination again Joe Biden in 2024, before choosing to run as an independent. Kennedy dropped out of the race altogether and endorsed Trump shortly after Biden dropped out.
The rest of the Kennedy family has consistently repudiated Trump, and has voiced their disapproval of RFK, Jr.’s actions. Hours before his hearing, Caroline Kennedy, daughter to President Kennedy, wrote a letter urging Senators to reject her cousin’s nomination.
“Unlike Bobby, I try not to speak for my father,” Caroline Kennedy wrote, “but I am certain that he and my uncle Bobby, who gave their lives in public services, and my uncle Teddy, who devoted his Senate career to improving health care, would be disgusted.”