President Donald Trump is defending Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after a contentious Senate hearing where he was pressured to resign by Democrats and even faced criticism from some Republicans over his leadership at the Health and Human Services Department.
Thursday's Senate hearing of the Finance Committee was guaranteed to be explosive after Kennedy fired the director of the CDC, Susan Monarez, who accused Kennedy in an op-ed of pressuring her to rubber-stamp anti-vaccine policies, a charge Kennedy rejected by calling her a liar.
As expected, Democrats painted Kennedy as a menace to public health, accusing him of undermining access to vaccines for deadly diseases and putting children in danger.
"I don't see any evidence that you have any regrets about anything you've done or plans to change it," said ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR). "And my last comment is, I hope that you will tell the American people how many preventable child deaths are an acceptable sacrifice for enacting an agenda that I think is fundamentally cruel and defies common sense."
Kennedy was defiant throughout, blasting his critics as liars and shills for big pharmaceutical companies.
While it was no surprise to see Democrats dogpile Kennedy, he also faced scrutiny from a handful of Republicans who expressed concern about the extent of his plans to shake up public health policy, particularly on vaccines.
“In your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines,” said Republican Sen. John Barrasso (WY) “Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned.”
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy (LA), who was a key vote to confirm Kennedy to his role, accused Kennedy of "effectively" taking away COVID vaccines, which had been available on a walk-in basis at most pharmacies.
Kennedy insisted that anyone who wants a COVID shot can still get one despite new FDA rules that may require healthy people under 65 to get a doctor's prescription first. The insurance landscape is also unclear because insurance companies follow the recommendations of an influential CDC panel whose members Kennedy purged and replaced, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
During a shouting match with Michael Bennet (D-CO), Kennedy said he does not "anticipate" any changes to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine at ACIP's upcoming meeting. Kennedy said he agrees with an ACIP official he handpicked who called the COVID mRNA shots dangerous, especially for young people.
"Senator -- senator -- are you saying the mRNA vaccine has never been associated with myocarditis or pericarditis?" Kennedy asked Bennet.
While casting doubt on the safety of the COVID shots, Kennedy agreed that Trump should get the Nobel Prize for developing them through Operation Warp Speed. Trump's role in developing the shots has long been controversial with his own base, and the president recently called on Big Pharma to "justify" the success of COVID drugs.
When asked about Kennedy's combative performance, Trump said he did not watch it, but he appreciates that Kennedy is "different."
"He means very well. And he's got some little different ideas. I guarantee a lot of the people at this table like RFK Jr., and I do, but he's got a different take, and we want to listen to all of those takes," the president said.
"But I heard he did very well today," Trump added. "It's not your standard talk. I would say that, and that has to do with medical and vaccines. But if you look at what's going on in the world with health and look at this country also with regard to health, I like the fact that he's different."
