Update (1355 ET): Democrats were completely unhinged over the prospect of RFK Jr.’s ascent to the head of HHS during his confirmation hearing today – with Senator Liz Warren (D-MA) throwing tomahawks like a Super Mario Brothers Hammer Bro.
Warren badgered Kennedy over whether he would commit to not making money as HHS secretary amid ongoing lawsuits against vaccine makers.
Bernie—IN 2019-2020 YOU TOOK MORE MONEY FROM BIG PHARMA THAN ANYONE IN CONGRESS. And Senator Warren was not far behind you. You both should be ASHAMED of your behavior today. https://t.co/vGpjChhDJb pic.twitter.com/1vOWayit2Q
— Lindsay Penney (@TexasLindsay_) January 29, 2025
“No one should be fooled here. As secretary of HHS, Robert Kennedy will have the power to undercut vaccines and vaccine manufacturing across our country,” Warren concluded, after rattling off a list of ways in which he could influence his own lawsuits as head of HHS. “Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it. Kids might die but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in,” she continued.
To which Kennedy replied: “I support vaccines,” and accused her of asking him not to sue drug companies.
NEW: Elizabeth Warren accidentally makes RFK Jr. look GREAT with the perfect softball question.
WARREN: “You’re not going to take money from drug companies in any way, shape, or form?”
KENNEDY: “Who, me?”
WARREN: “Yes, you.”
KENNEDY: “Oh, yeah. I’m happy to commit to that.… pic.twitter.com/flALLbDVTV
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) January 29, 2025
Oh…
Elizabeth Warren (D- Massachussets)
Warren is an interesting one. She has received 748k from the healthcare industry but she has no corporate donors…that we know of.
This made me dive deeper into some strange connections since she has been the most outspoken over Kennedy by… pic.twitter.com/d2l9FKd5MH
— Anna Matson (@AnnaRMatson) January 24, 2025
Warren asked Kennedy not to take any compensation from lawsuits against drug companies while he’s secretary, and for a period of four years afterward – to which Kennedy agreed.
“You’re making me sound like a shill,” Kennedy told warren after she brought up his legal work against drugmakers.
“You’re asking me to not sue drug companies and I’m not going to agree to that, senator,” Kennedy continued, as supporters in the room cheered.
Warren replied that he could sue drug companies “as much as he wants.”
RFK JR: “All these Democrats are opposed to me for partisan issues, they used to be my friends. They agreed with all the issues I’ve been working on my whole career. Now they’re against me because anything President Trump does has to be discredited, derided, and vilified.” pic.twitter.com/TrdBcAumED
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) January 29, 2025
🚨NEW: Senator Tina Smith defends antidepressants and says that SSRIs are not related to school shootings. She says that she took SSRIs and had a good experience. She doesn’t want RFK Jr to advertise the dangers. RFK Jr says that her experience is not everyones else’s experience. pic.twitter.com/UDK0NeEJCm
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) January 29, 2025
WARNOCK: You have compared the CDC’s work to Nazi death camps. You have compared it to sexual abusers in the Catholic Church. Do you stand by those statements?
RFK Jr: I don’t believe that I ever compared the CDC to Nazi death camps
WARNOCK: I have a transcript pic.twitter.com/AHEaKNZycn
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 29, 2025
NOW – RFK Jr.: “We’re not just overmedicating our children, we’re overmedicating our entire population.”‘pic.twitter.com/HWWlKhBcL1
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 29, 2025
“Ours has always been a family that has been involved in public service and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vows to deliver on Pres. Trump’s promise to “make America healthy again” during his confirmation hearing. https://t.co/UFCOAdEZWe pic.twitter.com/dbSTjoUQdu
— ABC News (@ABC) January 29, 2025
🚨 JUST IN: A radical leftist just started SCREECHING while RFK Jr. was speaking at his confirmation hearing
These people are freaking deranged. pic.twitter.com/xRtRlsmChT
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 29, 2025
Astounding. Reporters at RFK hearing have pre-written negative headlines. pic.twitter.com/CY5VGXJH2O
— Calley Means (@calleymeans) January 29, 2025
NEW: Big Pharma mouthpiece Ron Wyden reads RFK Jr. the riot act for disagreeing with the “settled science” that has caused a healthcare crisis in America.
Senator Wyden had no criticism for Big Pharma abuses or the socialist healthcare programs that have exploded costs.
But he… pic.twitter.com/k4c6KLntjy
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 29, 2025
Watch:
Meanwhile…
Robert F Kennedy Jr., the man who could upend the incestuous relationship between big pharma and big government as head of Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will appear today at 10AM ET for a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, which oversees HHS.
Then on Thursday, Jan. 30, Kennedy – a former Democrat and independent presidential candidate – will attend a forum hosted by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
After he passes through both gauntlets, the Senate Finance Committee will vote on whether to advance him to a full Senate floor vote, where he must get a simple majority to gain confirmation. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the chamber.
And of course, Wyden starts out by lying:
Wow… 5 minutes and @RonWyden has spouted multiple lies already.
1) RFK Jr. was responsible for measles outbreak
2) Mifepristone is safe
3) Trump shut down medicaid portals yesterday.Goddamn liars. If they couldn’t lie, they’d have nothing to say.
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) January 29, 2025
According to Fox News, Kennedy will emphasize that he’s not “anti-vaccine,” and plans to say in his opening statement:
“I want to make sure the Committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety.“
If confirmed, Kennedy would have control over 18 powerful federal agencies, including the CDC, the FDA, the NIH, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Kennedy is also expected to emphasize that he’s not “the enemy of food producers. American farms are the bedrock of our culture and national security … I want to work with our farmers and food producers to remove burdensome regulations and unleash American ingenuity.”
Kennedy has served as the chair / chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense – a nonprofit organization he founded that advocates against unsafe vaccinations. Through CHD, Kennedy has sued the federal government numerous times – including a challenge over the authorization to administer the COVID vaccine for children.
Given the threat RFK Jr. poses to the aforementioned special interests, it’s no surprise they’ve been coming after him tooth and nail.
2) @nytimes w/ a “fact check” on RFKJr for vaccine statements. The NY Times has been an ardent cheerleader of the COVID vaccines throughout the pandemic.
And no reporter has made more reporting mistakes to favour COVID vaccines than Apoorva Mandavilli. pic.twitter.com/LYSlUQQaNb
— Paul D. Thacker (@thackerpd) January 29, 2025
(Click into the tweet for the rest of the thread)
“There are a series of industries that actually make money from keeping us sick,” Kennedy told Dr. Phil last year, which the host re-shared this week (per The Federalist). “You would think they want us healthy but they actually make more money if we get sicker. And of course, with the pharmaceutical companies, if you have a chronic illness then you’re a lifetime patient.”
As The Federalist notes further:
Kennedy said the diabetes drug Ozempic in particular is being relied on to induce weight loss for a nation where more than two-thirds are overweight and 40 percent are obese. In November, the Biden administration proposed an 11th-hour rule to cover the medication under federal insurance programs. If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy would decide whether to approve the $35 billion handout for drug manufacturers or terminate the proposal. Kennedy, however, has been a consistent critic of the medications now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for obese children as young as 12.
“A sick child,” Kennedy said in his August endorsement speech of Trump, “is the best thing for the pharmaceutical industry. When American children or adults are sick with a chronic condition, they’re put on medication for their entire life.”
Kennedy’s persistent antagonism of the pharmaceutical giants led to a shock in their stocks upon his nomination to lead the nearly $2 trillion agency in charge of regulating the drug industry. HHS holds jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making HHS a primary recruitment ground for the industry’s revolving door of influence, which Kennedy has pledged to eliminate.
The outlet further points out that during today’s hearing, Kennedy will face questions from lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee who have received roughly $7 million from drug companies between 2019 and 2024, according to a Federalist analysis of donations compiled by OpenSecrets.
Members of the Senate Health Committee, who will question Kennedy Thursday, have received more than $5.6 million in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry, or nearly $4.4 million around a similar timespan once excluding Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn, who also serve on the Finance Committee. -The Federalist
Click here to read more about lawmakers who take money from big pharma…
DISGUSTING! In one of the most egregious slanders levied yet on a Trump cabinet nominee, Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii claims that RFK, Jr. wants to conduct the Tuskegee experiments on all Americans and millions will die if he is confirmed. pic.twitter.com/pY6I3DK0q2
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) January 29, 2025
Even Kennedy’s cousin came out against him, donning those little round rim glasses authoritarians seems to love.
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy’s statement to the US Senate on RFKJr’s nomination for HHS Secretary
This is a reading of a letter she just sent to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
I’m so proud of my courageous mother, who’s lived a life of dignity,… pic.twitter.com/feysNA0Wwp
— Jack Schlossberg (@JBKSchlossberg) January 28, 2025
That said, his former running mate, billionaire Nicole Shanahan, has his back – and has vowed to fund primary challenges to 13 US Senators who refuse to support Kennedy’s confirmation.
JUST IN: Billionaire Nicole Shanahan vows to fund primary challengers of 13 specific U.S. Senators who don’t support RFK Jr’s confirmation, calls them out by name.
Good.
“I will make it my personal mission that you lose your seats in the Senate if you vote against the future… pic.twitter.com/JushhFdAcM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 29, 2025
Stay tuned for updates…
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/29/2025 – 22:21
