Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, said during his Senate hearing on Wednesday that he’s not coming after anyone’s Big Macs or Twinkies if he’s confirmed as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy testified during one of two Senate confirmation hearings. This was his first public confrontation with senators; his previous meetings have taken place behind closed doors.
“We need to ... deploy NIH and FDA to doing the research to understand the relationship between these different food additives and chronic disease, so that Americans understand it and make sure that Americans are aware,” said Kennedy. “But I don't want to take food away from anybody. If you like ... a McDonald's cheeseburger, Diet Coke, which my boss loves, you should be able to get them.”
“If you want to eat Hostess Twinkies, you should be able to do that, but you should know what the impacts are on your family and on your health,” he added.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stances have worried health experts, as have his views opposing fluoridated water and supporting raw milk in the face of federal regulators who argue it’s dangerous.
He has become one of Trump’s most polarizing cabinet nominees as Republicans have shared their worries concerning his support for abortion rights.
More recently, Kennedy has moved his focus away from vaccines and toward prioritizing working to fight the U.S. epidemic of chronic diseases and limiting the spread of ultra-processed foods.
Kennedy can only lose three Republican votes in the full Senate, and a number of lawmakers have yet to make their intentions clear, such as polio survivor and former Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor.
The 71-year-old appeared before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday and will appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, headed by Cassidy, on Thursday. The Finance Committee will decide if Kennedy gets a vote of the full Senate.
Kennedy’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, released a scathing letter on Tuesday, calling him a “predator” who led siblings and cousins on a “path of drug addiction.” She also argued that his conspiratorial views on vaccines make him unfit to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy has previously shared his journey recovering from an addiction to heroin.
If he manages to be confirmed, Kennedy will be in charge of a massive department with some of the most used programs and some of the most well-known agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, Medicaid and Medicare.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregan slammed Kennedy in his opening statement, saying he “has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks and charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines.”
“He's made it his life's work to sow doubt and discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines. It’s been lucrative for him and put him on the verge of real power,” he added. “This is the profile of somebody who chases money and influence wherever they lead, even if that means the deaths of children and other vulnerable people.”
Kennedy said in his opening statement that “Americans overall health is in grievous condition. Over 70 percent of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese.”
“Diabetes is 10 times more prevalent than it was during the 1960s, cancer among young people is rising by one or two percent a year, autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, Alzheimer's, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction and all those other physical and mental health conditions are all on the rise, some of them exponentially,” he added.
He also rejected allegations that he’s “anti-vaccine.”
“I want to make sure the committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry; I am neither,” Kennedy said.
After an interruption by a protester, Kennedy continued: “I believe ... that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare. All of my kids are vaccinated.”
Referencing President John F. Kennedy, he said that when “my uncle was president, two percent of American kids had chronic disease. Today, 66 percent have chronic disease. We spent zero on chronic disease during the Kennedy administration. Today, we spend $4.3 trillion a year, [and] 77 percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service.”
In an antagonistic exchange, Kennedy went head-to-head with Wyden over his stance on vaccines. Wyden cited a number of Kennedy’s podcast appearances, with the senator asking, “Are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine, or did you lie on all those podcasts?”
Kennedy argued that his comments had been taken out of context, saying, “Every medicine has people who are sensitive to them, including vaccines.”
Democratic Colorado Senator Michael Bennet sparred with Kennedy on a number of issues, including Kennedy’s previous comments that the COVID-19 virus was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
“Mr. Kennedy, did you say that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets Black and white people but spared Jews and Chinese people?” Bennet asked.
“I didn't say it was deliberately targeted. I just quoted an ... NIH-published study,” Kennedy responded regarding his conspiracy-filled rant from 2023.
“Did you say Lyme disease is highly likely a militarily engineered bioweapon?” Bennet pressed on.
“I probably did say that,” said Kennedy.
“Did you say that exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender?” the senator asked.
“No, I never said that,” Kennedy claimed.
“OK, I have the record that I'll give to the chairman, and he can make his judgment about what you said,” Bennet responded.
The senator also asked about Kennedy’s stance on abortion.
“Did you say on a podcast, and I quote, ‘I wouldn't leave it abortion to the states. My belief is we should leave it to the woman. We shouldn't have the government involved, even if it's full term?’” he asked.
“Senator, I believe every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy responded.
Under questioning from Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, Kennedy committed to putting in place Trump’s policies on abortion.
He said he agrees with Trump that “we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I agree with him that the states should control abortion.”
“President Trump has told me that he wants to end late-term abortions, and he wants to protect conscience exemptions, and that he wants to end federal funding for abortions here or abroad,” he added. “I serve at the pleasure of the president. I'm going to implement his policies.”
One of the Democrats who got into a heated argument with Kennedy was Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who accused Kennedy of profiting off lawsuits against vaccine makers.
“For all of his talk about follow the science ... the bottom line is the same: Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it. Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in,” said Warren.
Meanwhile, Kennedy argued that Democrats oppose him simply because “anything that President Trump does, any decision he makes, has to be lampooned, derided, discredited.”
“All these Democrats are opposed to me for partisan issues. They used to be my friends, [they] agreed with me on all the environmental issues I've been working on for my whole career,” said Kennedy.
