Robert F Kennedy Jr was grilled by Democratic senators in Congress over health conspiracy theories and anti-vax comments he had previously voiced.
RFK Jr is President Donald Trump’s pick for US health secretary, a post that oversees public health issues, such as medical research, food safety and public welfare programmes.
Kennedy has been one of Trump’s most controversial appointments though, as he as previously been a vocal vaccine sceptic, and has previously voiced baseless conspiracy theories about diseases such as Covid.
On Wednesday, he was questioned at his first confirmation hearing, and senators were quick to challenge the Republican on his historic comments.
During one fiery exchange, Democrat Bernie Sanders tore into RFK Jr over products sold on the website for the Children’s Health Defense, a group Kennedy ran for eight years.
This included onesies with ‘unvaxxed unafraid’ and ‘no vax no problem’ written on them.
Sanders repeatedly asked Kennedy whether he was still ‘supportive’ of the products, a question the Republican seemed keen to avoid…
Meanwhile, Democratic senator Michael Bennet took Kennedy to task over some of his previous comments about Covid-19, Lyme disease and AIDS.
Kennedy has in the past said Covid and Lyme disease were ‘engineered bioweapons’, whilst he was also challenged over his baseless claims that environmental toxins, including those in drinking water and pesticides, are linked to gender identity in children
Bennet then went on to ask Kennedy about his views on abortion, which seem to be at odds with those of most Republicans. The politician has in the past expressed support for abortion rights and said that governments should not be involved in a woman’s right to choose.
When Kennedy responded to Bennet’s question by saying “every abortion is a tragedy” and refusing to answer his question, the Democratic senator launched into an impassioned speech.
He accused Kennedy of playing “games” and reminded him that the job of health secretary was a matter of “life and death” for millions of Americans.
You can watch the full exchange below.
A masterclass in how to truly deal with people like RFK Jr.
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