“I believe that vaccines play a critical role in healthcare,” Kennedy said, adding that all of his children were vaccinated.
He was forced to again distance himself from a deadly measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019 just months after he visited the island on a trip reportedly co-ordinated by a local anti-vaxxer. Kennedy said vaccination rates fell in Samoa well before his arrival and claimed the trip was not about vaccines.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday for his confirmation hearing as health secretary.Credit: AP
“You cannot find a single Samoan who said, ‘I did not get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy’,” he said. “I support the measles vaccine, I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as [health] secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines.”
Vermont senator Bernie Sanders accused Kennedy of making a “major U-turn” on abortion. While running for president last year, Kennedy said he was “for choice and medical freedom”, and that women should be trusted to make the best decision for themselves.
His exact position remained unclear, however, as he defended abortion until full-term on at least one occasion, before saying he only supported it until the point of fetal viability.
“I have never seen a politician flip as quickly as you did,” Sanders told him. Kennedy would only repeat his line that he backed Trump’s view that every abortion was a tragedy but it was an issue for the states. Pressed on his fealty to Trump, Kennedy said: “I serve at the pleasure of the president, I’m going to implement his policies.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to extract a guarantee from Kennedy that he would not profit from lawsuits against drug companies while in office.Credit: Bloomberg
Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts who contested the 2020 Democratic primary for president, grilled Kennedy about his financial stake in a lawsuit against Merck, the developer of HPV vaccine Gardasil, in which Kennedy has reportedly drawn referral fees of $US2.5 million ($4 million).
She asked him to guarantee he would not take compensation from any lawsuits against drug companies while secretary, and for four years after. “You’re making me sound like a shill,” Kennedy said. “You’re asking me to not sue drug companies, and I’m not going to agree to that.”
Warren clarified she was only asking him not to profit from suing drug companies. She ran through a list of ways in which, as secretary of the Department of Heath and Human services (HHS), he would have the power to influence the development or success of vaccines, and related lawsuits, from which he could make money.
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“No one should be fooled here,” she said. “As secretary of HHS … 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.”
The hearing before the Senate finance committee on Thursday (AEDT) was the first step towards Kennedy’s confirmation. If the committee progresses him, he faces a vote before the full Senate, in which he can lose a maximum of three Republicans if all Democrats and independents are opposed.
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