
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came under bruising scrutiny in the first of two U.S. Senate confirmation hearings to possibly put him in charge of Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services.
The hearing did not go well.
Related
Louisiana bans staff from helping people get mpox, COVID & flu vaccines
Vaccine skeptics RFK Jr and the state’s governor are behind the secretive effort.
Kennedy, who is widely known as an anti-vaxxer, struggled in the hearing to reframe his opposition to vaccines as concern for “chronic disease.”
Insights for the LGBTQ+ community
Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
“News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry,” Kennedy said in his opening statement. “I am neither.”
“He lies!” shouted a protester in the hearing room.
RFK JR: News reports have claimed that I’m anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 29, 2025
Protester: You lie! pic.twitter.com/KSMVOfZAsF
Throughout the hearing, Kennedy repeatedly flubbed and evaded the facts about HHS programs in the secretary’s remit, including those related to the department’s two largest.
When questioned by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana about Medicare and Medicaid, which cover over 100 million older and low-income Americans, Kennedy described Medicaid’s premiums and deductibles as too high. Neither program charges those fees.
Kennedy’s past statements, some promoting conspiracy theories, haunted him throughout the questioning.
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado (D) asked Kennedy, “Did you say that exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender?”
Bennet: Did you say that exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender?
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 29, 2025
RFK JR: No, I never said that. pic.twitter.com/yhsJpYd3V2
Kennedy replied, “No, I never said that,” despite his repeated assertions that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay and transgender and cause the feminization of boys and masculinization of girls.
Trump’s HHS nominee RFK Jr. said chemicals in water are causing kids to turn transgender.
— PatriotTakes
pic.twitter.com/tIBWQRvSec
Source: LGBTQ Nation