A fiery exchange between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee nearly derailed Wednesday’s hearing, but President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expertly swatted away repeated questions about his past vaccine statements.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) was emotionally animated while grilling RFK on whether he was “lying to Congress” during his opening statement declaring himself “pro-vaccine” or if he was untruthful while appearing on numerous podcasts and raising questions about the efficacy and side effects of many vaccines in widespread use, including for Covid-19 variants and measles.
“We have all of this on tape, by the way,” warned the 75-year-old Democratic senator.
While others may have cowered under the white hot light and booming voice of Wyden, RFK pushed back with vigor.
“Senator, as you know that has been repeatedly debunked, that statement I made on the Lex Fridman podcast was a fragment of the statement,” RFK replied.
He continued: “Anybody who actually goes and looks at that podcast will see this: He asks me, ‘Are there vaccines that are safe and effective?’ And I said to him, ‘Some of the live virus vaccines