Politics

RFK Jr. Shamed by Law School Pal at Senate Hearing: ‘You Frighten People’

VAX POPULI

And at least one protestor called President Trump’s health secretary nominee a liar.

Sheldon Whitehouse and RFK, Jr.
The Daily Beast/Getty

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was called frightening and labeled a liar Wednesday during the first day of his confirmation hearings to be Donald Trump’s health secretary.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse asked for a promise from Kennedy that he will “never say vaccines aren’t medically safe when they, in fact, are. And make indisputably clear that you support mandatory vaccinations against diseases where that will keep people safe.”

Kennedy didn’t have a chance to answer before his former law school classmate tamped down speculation that he’s going easy on his old friend.

“Frankly you frighten people,” Whitehouse told Kennedy, whose nomination process has seen a drip, drip, drip of unearthed controversies.

The Rhode Island senator, who typically opposes Trump’s policies and nominees, has refused to say which way he’ll vote on Kennedy. The two were hiking and hunting buddies when they attended the University of Virginia Law School in the rolling hills of Charlottesville.

Whitehouse recently said “people need to kind of chill” on their speculation on whether he’ll support Kennedy, whose stance against life-saving vaccinations has come under intense scrutiny by the medical community and scientists.

The Senate Finance Committee hearing room was full of theatrics as RFK Jr., whose own leading family members—led by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy—have condemned his views and embrace of Trump.

“Are you a conspiracy theorist?” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) asked Kennedy.

“That is a pejorative, senator, that his applied to me,” RFK Jr. answered.

“He lies,” a woman shouted earlier from the public gallery. The protester was quickly ushered out, and minutes later another woman holding a sign was also forcibly removed from the chamber by a police officer.

The first interruption came just as Kennedy denied media reports that he was opposed to vaccines.

“All my kids are vaccinated,” he said. “I have written books about vaccinations. The first line said I am not anti-vaccines; the last line says I am not anti-vaccines.”

After the brief protest, he insisted he would not apologize for questioning the status quo and asking “uncomfortable questions.”

Kennedy introduced his wife, Cheryl Hines, and two of his children, to the gathering before the hearing began. Hines sat behind her husband, in camera view, over his right shoulder.

Kennedy came attack right from the off, with Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the committee, charging in his opening statement that Kennedy has embraced “conspiracy theories, quacks and charlatans.”

“He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines. It has been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of immense power. This is the profile of someone who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that may mean the tragic deaths of children and other vulnerable people,” he added.Kennedy was grilled by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee over his unorthodox health views and vaccine skepticism.

Trump has been steadfast in his support for Kennedy despite the pressure for him to drop the former Democrat from his Cabinet plans. The latest blow to RFK Jr.‘s confirmation hopes came from his own famous family when his cousin Caroline Kennedy released an extraordinary, scathing video attacking his character and branding him a “predator.”

She added that he mistreated small animals and was partly responsible for members of his family descending into drug addiction.

He denied being “anti-vaccine or anti-industry” and insisted he was simply “pro-safety”. But he has been widely criticized for his ant-vaxxer conspiracy theories during the pandemic.

He chaired the Children’s Health Defense group, which campaigned against COVID-19 vaccines.

“I can’t imagine anyone who would be more damaging to vaccines and the use of vaccines than RFK,” Dr. Michgael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota told CNN.

As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy would have a huge bearing on the U.S. health industry, overseeing everything from food safety to pharmaceuticals, public health, and vaccinations.

He would be in charge of a trillion-dollar budget and about 80,000 employees.

While his skepticism over some scientific evidence has conflicted with experts, he has won support for his views on curbing big pharmaceutical companies' power and warning over the use of food additives.

At a rally last month in Arizona, Kennedy said he would fire 600 officials overseeing vaccine research as soon as the Trump administration moves into the White House.