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| - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., U.S. President Donald Trump's 2025 pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has long faced scrutiny for his embrace of debunked anti-vaccine rhetoric.
Ahead of Kennedy's confirmation hearing with the Senate Finance Committee, rumors spread that during his opening remarks, Kennedy would admit he vaccinated his own children and stress that he is "not anti-vaccine."
In between shouts from protesters at the hearing, Kennedy did say in his opening statement,: "All of my kids are vaccinated," and said he believes vaccines play a "critical role" in health care. His full comments were:
Before I conclude, 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, I am neither. I am pro-safety, I worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish, and nobody called me anti-fish. And I believe that vaccines play a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated. I've written many books on vaccines. My first book in 2014, the first line of it is "I am not anti-vaccine" and the last line is "I am not anti-vaccine."
Had Kennedy Previously Stated He Vaccinated His Kids?
This is not the first time Kennedy has publicly discussed his personal choice to vaccinate his children. In 2020, while speaking on the podcast of his nonprofit organization Children's Health Defense, Kennedy said that he would do anything, pay anything to be able to go back in time to avoid giving his children the vaccines that he gave them. His full comments (at minute 36:18) were as follows:
What would I do if I could go back in time and I could avoid giving my children the vaccines that I gave them? I would do anything for that. I would pay anything to be able to do that. You know, I worry about my kids every time they go to a birthday party, every time they leave the house, because they've got peanut allergies that could kill them.
What Book Was Kennedy Talking About?
The 2014 book Kennedy mentioned in his opening statement was "Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak." As editor of the book, his introduction began:
People who advocate for safer vaccines should not be marginalized or denounced as anti-vaccine. I am pro-vaccine. I had all six of my children vaccinated. I believe that vaccines have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of humans over the past century and that broad vaccine coverage is critical to public health. But I want our vaccines to be as safe as possible.
It is important to note that he also wrote books with titles such as "Vaccine Villains: What the American Public Should Know about the Industry," "Profiles of the Vaccine-Injured: "A Lifetime Price to Pay" and "Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health."
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