Department of Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got into a heated exchange with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon on Wednesday regarding RFK Jr.’s views concerning vaccines.
In his opening statement before the Senate Finance Committee during his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said, “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-[pharmaceutical] industry. I am neither.”
“I am pro-safety. I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish,” he continued.
“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated,” RFK Jr. said.
Despite past statements about vaccines, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies that he is not “anti-vaccine.”
“I am pro-safety … I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated.”
Follow live updates: https://t.co/SqNKFR2jDi pic.twitter.com/grcG4v4WGf
— ABC News (@ABC) January 29, 2025
Wyden, the ranking member of the committee, accused Kennedy of making conflicting statements about his position on vaccines.
“In your testimony today under oath, you denied that you are anti-vaccine, but during a podcast interview in July of 2023, you said, ‘No vaccine is safe and effective,’” the senator said.
Wyden referenced another 2020 podcast in which he said Kennedy stated, if he had it to do over again, he would not have vaccinated his kids.
Do you think RFK Jr. will be confirmed?
“Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine or did you lie on all those podcasts?”
Kennedy responded, “Senator, as you know, because it’s been repeatedly debunked that statement that I made on the Lex Fridman podcast [in 2023] was a fragment of the statement.”
“He asked me, ‘Are there vaccines that are safe and effective?’ And I said to him, ‘Some of the live virus vaccines are.’ And I said, ‘There are no vaccines that are safe and effective,’ and I was going to continue ‘for every person.’”
“Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine or did you lie on all those podcasts?”
Watch exchange between Sen. @RonWyden and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on vaccines. pic.twitter.com/4jYWaWUuzL
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 29, 2025
“Every medicine has people who are sensitive to them, including vaccines. He interrupted me at that point. I’ve corrected it many times, including on national TV. You know about this Senator Wyden. So bringing this up right now is dishonest,” Kennedy said, with anger in his voice.
A clip from the podcast does show Fridman interrupting RFK Jr. midsentence.
The claim that RFK. Jr said “There is no vaccine that is safe and effective…” is a lie.
Here is the original clip, in context. He was in the middle of an answer when @lexfridman cut him off with a new question. No blame on Lex. It was a discussion and that’s how they work.… pic.twitter.com/maBpbTyAoU
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) January 29, 2025
In his opening remarks at the hearing, Wyden also alleged that Kennedy’s views on the measles vaccines led to the death of 83 children in American Samoa in 2019.
“He traveled there himself to push his views and poured fuel on the fire of a measles outbreak that began due to low vaccination rates,” the lawmaker said.
During questioning, RFK Jr. countered Wyden’s claim, saying, “Your recitation of what happened in Samoa is absolutely wrong, and you know it’s wrong.”
The nominee recounted, “I went there, nothing to do with vaccines, I went there to introduce a medical informatic system with digitalized records in American Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient.”
“I never … gave any public statements about vaccines. You cannot find a single Samoan who will say, ‘I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy.’ I went in June of 2019, the measles outbreak started in August,” Kennedy argued.
He concluded, “I support the measles vaccine. I support the Polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines.”
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