Senate hearings are often boring affairs, but today’s Health and Human Services Secretary confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was entertaining enough that his critics likely pulled out a bowl of popcorn as Democrats refused to let him get away with all of his misleading and hypocritical statements.
The former independent presidential candidate, who ended up dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump, was nominated by the president despite intense skepticism from Democrats, who were not afraid to rigorously question Kennedy. He spent most of the hearing backpedaling on his past statements about vaccines and abortion access.
He may have been lobbed softball questions by Republicans, but Democrats were eager to hold his feet to the fire. All of the wild things Kennedy has said in the past about vaccines, his record of changing his mind on abortion, and his willingness to kowtow to Trump, had liberal senators calling him out and showing up with actual evidence.
These Democratic senators came with receipts!
Sen. Michael Bennet
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet hammered Kennedy by quoting the outlandish and anti-science statements he has made over the years, like COVID-19 being a “genetically engineered bioweapon that targets Black and white people, but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people” and lime disease being a “militarily engineered bi weapon” and that “exposure to pesticides causes children to become transgender.”
Bennet was even able to quote Kennedy’s own words about abortion, where he said, “My belief is we should leave it to the woman; we shouldn’t have the government involved even if it’s full term.” But instead of confirming these were his own words, Kennedy sidestepped by saying that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders taught a masterclass on how to hold politicians’ feet to the fire at Kennedy’s confirmation hearing today. He pointed out that RKF is claiming to be pro-vaccine now, but a company he founded is selling anti-vaxx onesies for babies and called out the Health and Human Services secretary for flip-flopping on the issue of abortion access in order to get in Trump’s good graces. Sanders pointed out that when RFK was running for president, he was pro-choice: “I’ve never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did,” Sanders said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren spent her allocated time at the confirmation hearing accusing Kennedy of profiting off of the anti-vaxx rhetoric he’s spent years spreading by putting his thumb on the scale of lawsuits against industries Health and Human Services is meant to regulate.
"Let’s do a quick count of how, as Secretary of HHS, if you get confirmed, you can influence every one of those lawsuits. Let me start the list. You can publish your anti-vaccine conspiracies, but this time on U.S. government letterhead, something that a jury may be impressed by. You can appoint people to the CDC vaccine panel who share your anti-vax views and let them do your dirty work,” Warren said before continuing with her list of the ways Kennedy could manipulate the system.
Sen. Raphael Warnock
When RFK attempted to claim that he hadn’t compared the Center for Disease Control’s website to “Nazi death camps,” Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock refused to let him wriggle out of it and instead reminded Kennedy that there is a transcript of his words and then proceeded to read it aloud for everyone to hear.
Sen. Maggie Hassan
Not only did New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan come with receipts, she came with 40 medical studies to enter into the record that prove that Mifepristone — a medication used to terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks —is safe and effective after Kennedy said that he would be investigating the drug at Trump’s behest.
“The studies are there, the safety is proved, the science is there, but what you’re telling us is if President Trump orders you to take action to make it harder for women to get direly needed healthcare, you’ll follow his order,” Hassan said.
RFK Jr. may have Republican senators ready to cast their vote in his favor, but Democrats weren't going to let the opportunity pass them by to show the public how incompetent, misleading, and hypocritical he is.
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