President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK) to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has some critics praising him and other critics shaking their heads in disbelief.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, is among those now praising the decision, though it was only a few months ago back in August when he dissed RFK by suggesting his leadership would lead to the return of Measles and Polio:
Not sure how bringing back Measles and bringing back Polio makes anyone more healthy… https://t.co/M2ihZHa68O
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) August 25, 2024
Months later, something’s changed, because Polis is singing an entirely different tune.
“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov,” he tweeted Thursday. “He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA.”
“I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than bans (which I think are terrible, just like mandates) but what I’m most optimistic about is taking on big pharma and the corporate ag oligopoly to improve our health,” he added.
Polis then shared some powerful RFK quotes that he explained “show why I’m excited” about Kennedy Jr. being invited to serve in President-elect Trump’s second administration.
Look:
I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than… pic.twitter.com/cILtTYplcn
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) November 14, 2024
Re my thoughts on @RobertKennedyJr, Science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy and the science-backed decision to get vaccinated improves public health and safety. But if as a country we follow the science we would also be far more concerned about the…
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) November 14, 2024
Among Democrats, Polis is mostly alone in his praise for RFK, with the majority of his colleagues in Congress and elsewhere expressing massive alarm.
“Mr. Kennedy’s outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said in a statement.
“There’s no telling how far an anti-vaxxer & fringe conspiracy theorist like RFK Jr. could set America back in terms of public health, reproductive rights, research, & more,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray likewise said. “And the consequences are not theoretical — they’re life or death issues.”
“Nominating someone who resigned from Congress to avoid a damning report about his sexual misconduct to run the Justice Department?” Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen tweeted. “Putting a vaccine and science denier in charge of HHS? This is the definition of insanity.”
Here meanwhile is what Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey tweeted:
Dangerous. Unqualified. Unserious. https://t.co/jSwKkNrijC
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) November 14, 2024
Most Republicans meanwhile responded to Trump’s nomination of RFK by praising the man for his brilliance.
For example, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson tweeted that he’s “a brilliant, courageous truth-teller,” Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville tweeted that he’s “an absolutely brilliant pick,” and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley tweeted that RFK’s nomination marks a “bad day for Big Pharma.”
But there have been naysayers.
“We’d like to see some nominations of people who actually know something about the institution they are expected to lead and reform,” one GOP lawmaker anonymously told Axios. “RFK knows nothing about how CMS or the FDA really work.”
“Even if we agree with RFK’s reforms and some of his ideas on health, he is not qualified to effectively implement those reforms,” they added.
Over on CNN meanwhile, host Jake Tapper also seemed down on the idea of RFK leading HHS.
During a discussion Wednesday about the controversial politician, in addition to Trump’s other nominees, Tapper asked former Biden-Harris White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield if there is “anything Democrats can do” to stop RFK’s confirmation.
“I mean, they don’t have the numbers, so practically in the short run, no,” she replied, to which Tapper responded with a telling quip.
“Well, America, I hope you like measles,” Tapper then said.
Funny …
Listen:
(Video Credit: CNN)
RFK’s nomination is also facing opposition from Public Citizen, a leftist nonprofit that ostensibly focuses on consumer advocacy.
“Robert F Kennedy Jr is a clear and present danger to the nation’s health,” the group said in a statement. “He shouldn’t be allowed in the building at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), let alone be placed in charge of the nation’s public health agency.”
‘”Donald Trump’s bungling of public health policy during the Covid pandemic cost hundreds of thousands of lives. By appointing Kennedy as his secretary of HHS, Trump is courting another, policy-driven public health catastrophe,” the nonprofit added.
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