President Donald Trump appeared to struggle to find something positive to say about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s performance at his Senate hearing on Thursday, telling reporters that Kennedy “means well.”
When asked by a reporter whether or not he had “full confidence” in what Kennedy was doing in light of Republican Senator Bill Cassidy’s questioning on the subject of vaccines, Trump dodged the question, opting to discuss the hearing rather than Kennedy’s anti-vax policies or job performance.
“Well, I didn’t get to watch the hearings today, but he’s a very good person,“ Trump said. ”And he means very well. And he’s got some little different ideas.”
Flanked by First Lady Melania Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the president continued, “I guarantee a lot of the people at this table like RFK Jr. And I do. But he’s got a different take. And we want to listen to all of those takes. But I heard he did very well today.”
“It’s not your standard talk,” Trump conceded. “I would say that. And that has to do with medical and vaccines. But if you look at what’s going on in the world with health and look at this country, also with regard to health, I like the fact that he’s different.”
Trump was hosting Silicon Valley leaders at the White House in what was meant to be the first scheduled event in his redesigned Rose Garden. Unfortunately for Trump, heavy rain in D.C. forced the event indoors.
The Trumps and Zuckerberg were joined by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and OpenAI’s Sam Altman; former DOGE chief and one-time Trump ally Elon Musk was notably absent.
Kennedy testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, with every Democrat on the committee calling for his resignation just moments before the hearing began.
Kennedy locked horns with Democrats and Republicans alike, with senators from both parties voicing concerns about his beliefs. Kennedy is an avowed vaccine skeptic and has spearheaded efforts at HHS to restrict access to COVID-19 vaccines for Americans.
He has also overseen significant restructuring at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including installing several of his fellow vaccine skeptics in top jobs.
Ranking Member Ron Wyden questioned Kennedy about the CDC chaos, including last week’s removal of newly-appointed director Susan Monarez after less than a month in the role.
When asked by Wyden whether Monarez’s claim in The Wall Street Journal that Kennedy asked her to “just go along” with vaccine recommendations that didn’t align with scientific evidence was correct, Kennedy said it was not.
“So she’s lying today to the American people in The Wall Street Journal?” Wyden asked Kennedy.
“Yes, sir,” Kennedy responded.
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