WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s choice for U.S. health secretary, was sharply questioned by senators Wednesday in the first confirmation hearing of his tenure. Senators challenged his past remarks on vaccines, abortion, and the U.S. food industry.
Kennedy, known as a vocal vaccine critic and skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, defended his cause by stating that he is not an anti-vaccine advocate. He called for greater safety testing for vaccines while criticizing the U.S. food industry as part of the reason the country has become an obese nation. “We will reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to health,” he told the committee.
Still, his previous remarks, including claiming that no vaccine is “safe and effective,” had already stoked controversy. He said those comments were taken out of context but was hammered for spreading misinformation through his group, Children’s Health Defense, which has propagated discredited theories connecting vaccines to autism.
The hearing also covered Kennedy’s stand on abortion. He repeated that he felt abortion was a tragedy but that he would be in favor of Trump’s policy of leaving access to abortion up to the individual states. That change in stance drew fire from some Democrats, who accused Kennedy of compromising his pro-choice values to secure his nomination.
Kennedy, who is to undergo another confirmation hearing on Thursday, drew mixed reactions from senators. A Republican senator, Ron Johnson, commended Kennedy for his chronic disease work, but Democratic Senator Ron Wyden slammed the presentation and vaccine remarks made in the past.
