A decisive week will be coming up for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The former independent candidate, Trump’s choice as the next Department of Health and Human Services secretary, will be in Washington DC, where he will meet with senators who will have to approve his candidacy.
According to sources, RFK will be on Capitol Hill for as many as four days in a row, from today until Thursday, December 19. As is now well known, some senators have expressed more than a little concern about the anti-vax positions of the former independent, chosen by the president-elect for a position as important as it is sensitive.
Clearly, the various statements RFK has made in the past, regarding vaccines and more, have put several members of the Senate on edge. A few days ago Mitch McConnell, a survivor of polio that had paralyzed his legs, lashed out harshly at Kennedy and one of his top aides, Aaron Siri, who petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of a polio vaccine for children.
“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous,” McConnell said in the statement. “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.”
Siri, who is helping RFK select various health officials for the next administration, submitted the petition in question in 2022 on behalf of the group Informed Consent Action Safety. In the past, he has also filed a petition to suspend the distribution of other vaccines, while objecting to COVID-19 vaccines.
McConnell’s words, indicate that Kennedy, who has long supported the now debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, may face some resistance in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate.
Last month Trump said RFK would work to protect Americans “from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives.” However, to date, his position still remains shaky.
Following the controversy raised by McConnell in recent days and ahead of meetings with senators, the former independent candidate’s spokeswoman, Katie Miller, said: “Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied.”
