Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. screamed at CNN host Dana Bash this morning during an appearance on State of the Union. suggesting that children in the United States who are dying from measles and other diseases would have died even if they’d been vaccinated, and trying to defend his deplorable record as head of the agency.
What can HHS do if another pandemic were to hit the U.S.? Bash asked.
Rather than reply, Kennedy suggested that constitutional rights were “dismantled” during COVID-19 lockdowns, which took place during the first Trump administration.
“I really want to move on,” Bash remarked, to which Kennedy shot back, “Of course you do, because you were part of the problem!”
“No, I wasn’t part of the problem,” Bash countered.
“Yes! There was absolute press malpractice,” Kennedy continued. “You weren’t allowing—”
When Bash tried to get a word in, Kennedy kept railing.
“Your job is fierce skepticism toward authority. And you weren’t doing that. You were beating up the people who were dissenting,” he said.
Bash tried to calm down the rhetoric: “Okay. Do you want to sit here and attack me, or do you want to have a conversation about public health?”
“You’re sitting here attacking me!” Kennedy whined.
“I’m not attacking you. I’m asking questions about how to prevent the next pandemic,” Bash insisted.
“Well, ask a question and I’ll tell you,” Kennedy responded.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Bash told him. “But I also don’t want to use this interview to allow you to say things that aren’t entirely true.”
When the discussion turned to measles, Bash asked “Do you want people to get the MMR vaccine?”
“Yeah, I said that already,” pointing at Bash yet again. “I know you’re flustered now, and it’s frustrating.”
“I’m not flustered at all. I am frustrated,” she said. “The reason I’m frustrated is because you are the HHS secretary and you are talking about things that lead to vaccine hesitancy in this country. And it is something that causes problems for people when there is not anything—”
Kennedy cut off the host in mid-sentence.
“Let me ask you something,” he said. “Do you see your job as ending vaccine hesitancy, or do you see your job as telling the truth to the American people?”
“I see my job as telling the truth, and the truth is that there is study after study after study. It‘s one of the most studied things out there in science—”
“You’re repeating it like a parrot,” Kennedy whined as he lunged forward. “You‘re repeating it like a parrot. I’ve actually read the science.”
“I’m not debating nonsense,” Bash told him.
“All you know how to do is repeat what people told you and say ‘trust in the experts,’” Kennedy countered.
Bash: “Okay, well, guess what? That is my job, to talk to people.”
“Your job is to tell the truth,” Kennedy yelled, as Bash asked, “Am I allowed to talk?”
Kennedy and his boss, Donald Trump, are letting Americans die and endangering the health of millions in this country with their anti-vaccine lies. Both of them should be brought up on charges of malfeasance and scientific malpractice. Their claptrap is going to lead to the deaths of countless people across the world.
