Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called out Senator Bernie Sanders for taking money from the pharmaceutical industry during a heated exchange at the former's confirmation hearing.
The episode took place when Kennedy said that corruption related to the healthcare industry extended beyond federal agencies and was also present in Congress. "Almost all the members of this panel, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting their interests," RFK Jr. said.
Sanders immediately rejected the accusation, responding emphatically:
"No, no, no. I ran for President like you. I got millions and millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives. Not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry. They came from workers."
Kennedy countered by stating that in 2020 Sanders was "the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money" and accepted approximately $1.5 million. Sanders acknowledged the figure but maintained that the donations came from individual employees rather than corporate PACs.
RFK Jr: "By the way, Bernie, the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies. It's in Congress too."
— American Values 🗽 (@AVPac_US) January 30, 2025
"Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, including yourself, millions dollars from the pharmaceutical industry."
"Bernie, you were the single largest... pic.twitter.com/lxl86zirjZ
According to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, Sanders was Congress's second-largest recipient of pharmaceutical or health product donations in 2016, raking in over $439,000.
However, before his 2020 presidential campaign, Sanders pledged not to accept any more donations from pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, making a point to highlight that the pledge did not apply to "rank-and-file workers employed by pharmaceutical giants and health insurance companies." As a result, he received nearly $1.4 million in 2020 from individual contributions.
Sanders has been a vocal critic of pharmaceutical companies for years. In a February 2024 interview with TIME he reiterated his position, stating that "the pharmaceutical industry is an extremely greedy industry, their goal is simply to make as much money as they possibly can." He also highlighted how drug prices in the U.S. were significantly higher than in other countries, attributing this disparity to the lack of governmental negotiation with drug manufacturers.
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