Robert Kennedy Jr. had a very specific message when entering the U.S. Capitol for meetings with lawmakers after getting caught up in a vaccine controversy.
Selected by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the former Democrat sought to assure reporters that he is for a popular treatment credited for eradicating what was a common disease.
Scheduled for high-stakes meetings with GOP Sens. Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, Markwayne Mullin and Tim Scott on Monday, Kennedy is tasked with convincing the lawmakers he is a solid choice to lead the nation’s top health agency.
But a recent story about Kennedy’s top advisor, Aaron Siri, pushing to revoke the polio vaccine’s approval appears to now be imperiling his nomination among Republicans.
Following a New York Times story highlighting Siri’s efforts and Kennedy’s past remarks on vaccines – many of them not positive – longtime Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, released a statement ridiculing anyone attempting to degrade the treatment.
Now the HHS nominee is making sure people know where he stands.
‘I’m all for the polio vaccine,’ the 70-year-old said when arriving at the Capitol complex for meetings with senators on Monday.
It was his first time appearing on the hill since being nominated by Trump, and other than his vaccine remark, Kennedy did not say anything else or take any further questions.
Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, arrives at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 16, 2024.
When arriving inside the Hart Senate Office Building Kennedy said he supports the polio vaccine. Just days before Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released a scathing statement slamming skeptics of the vaccination
McConnell is a polio survivor himself, and credits the vaccination for saving millions of lives
Earlier Monday at a press conference, Trump defended Kennedy when asked about his controversial HHS nominee.
‘I think he’s going to be much less radical than you would think,’ Trump said. ‘I think he’s got a very open mind, or I wouldn’t have put him there.’
Last week following the story about Siri, the 82-year-old McConnell used his personal experience to tear into Trump’s preferred health secretary.
‘Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous,’ McConnell said of the bid from Kennedy’s advisor, while not singling out Kennedy by name.
‘Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.’
‘The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease,’ McConnell wrote.
As a toddler in 1944, McConnell’s upper left leg was paralyzed by the disease. However, treatment available at the time likely saved him from being disabled for the rest of his life.
About a decade later, the first successful vaccine was developed by U.S. physician Jonas Salk. The disease is now commonly considered extinct in the U.S. because of the vaccine.
Kennedy is scheduled to meet with GOP Sens. Rick Scott, Ron Johnson, Markwayne Mullin and Tim Scott on Monday
Trump defended Kennedy’s stance that vaccines could lead to higher autism rates at a press conference on Monday. During the event the president-elect said ‘something’s wrong’ with the amount of autism diagnoses today
‘Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,’ a Kennedy spokesperson said in response to McConnell.
Kennedy has drawn connections between vaccines and rising rates of autism, something Trump himself mentioned at a press conference on Monday, seemingly defending his nominee’s stance on the matter.
‘If you look at autism, so 30 years ago we had I heard numbers like 1 in 200,000, 1 in 100,000. Now I’m hearing numbers like 1 in 100. So something’s wrong,’ Trump said.
While health professionals say there is not a clear line between the two, autism cases have been ticking up dramatically in recent years. Tough the uptick in cases, some medical professionals say, should be attributed to clearer diagnosing criteria.
One in 36 or so U.S. children is diagnosed with autism today, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, in 2000 that number was closer to one in 150, CDC data shows.
‘There’s something wrong,’ Trump continued. ‘And we’re going to find out about it.’
