On Thursday, Sept. 4, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was questioned by Congress as part of the Senate Finance Committee’s “Hearing on the President’s 2026 Health Care Agenda.” Kennedy was asked how many Americans died from COVID-19, to which he spluttered, “I don’t know how many died.” Referring to the COVID-19 vaccine, he later gabbled, “I – I didn’t know if it saved a mil – (inaudible) if it saved a million lives.” Kennedy’s statements were enough to prompt leading politicians to call for Kennedy’s removal. These calls are warranted and necessary, as Kennedy’s actions have been appalling recently. This has been a growing trend with many current members of the United States Cabinet, putting Kennedy in the company of others who are unfit for office. It is unequivocal that Kennedy must be removed from office as his idiocy is actively damaging the integrity of the American government and devastating the health of Americans.
Kennedy’s latest series of statements and unsubstantiated claims are absurd. Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, Kennedy stated that, “We’re not going to recommend a product for which there is no clinical data.” However, on Kennedy’s CDC website, the “COVID-19 Vaccine Basics” page has a section titled “Clinical Trials” which states that “Results from these trials have shown that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, especially against severe illness, hospitalization, and death.” His obsession with the supposed negative effects of the CDC’s response to COVID-19 is obvious. Even so, it is uncanny how stubborn Kennedy has been to dispute the truth that these vaccines have been saving lives. It is possible that Kennedy’s long history of anti-vaccine beliefs contributes to him leaving these critical details out. Regardless, it is surely malpractice to make conflicting statements with what one’s agency publishes, especially as the Secretary of Health. His lies, and frequent, convenient omissions of important factual information are becoming a detriment to American health. No longer can this malarkey be understated as just a meaningless gaffe.
The ways in which these comments impress tangible harm to the American people become apparent through the reactions of leading politicians. Regarding the matter of Kennedy’s continual forging of destruction to American health, Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, made a key point during the “grilling” of Kennedy on Sept. 4. Warren and many Americans held a chief concern over Kennedy’s promise last November that he would not deny the rights of any American to receive vaccines. Despite this promise, Kennedy’s actions as Secretary of Health led to the restriction of COVID-19 vaccines on Aug. 27. Now, only those over the age of 65 may receive the vaccine; anyone younger must have an underlying medical condition to be eligible. Warren asked Kennedy to clarify whether he had broken his promise (which he clearly had). At first, he maintained regarding the vaccine that, “anybody can get it,” but as Warren continued her line of questioning, Kennedy then stated that “It’s not recommended for healthy people.” Warren successfully exposed Kennedy for taking the vaccine away from Americans who are getting sick without it.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Kennedy’s agency fired Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Susan Monarez because, as Kennedy quipped, “I asked her, ‘Are you a trustworthy person?’ And she said, ‘No.'” Kennedy sang a song of patriotism when saying of the firing that it was an “absolutely necessary adjustment to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency.” However, in nearly the same breath, the former arrestee of heroin possession remarked quite unfaithfully that the CDC provided “disastrous, nonsensical policies” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Referring again to Kennedy’s bogus claim for why Monarez was fired, Warren makes it clear that the true reason is because of his involvement in Donald Trump’s oligarchal fraternity of bozos. Warren stated during the hearing that “I was afraid she was going to bend the knee to you and Donald Trump and it looks like she didn’t bend the knee, so you fired her.” Warren concluded reasonably to Kennedy, “you are putting American babies’ health at risk, American seniors’ health at risk, all Americans’ health at risk, and you should resign.”
A glance into reality reveals that Kennedy is utterly lacking in his ability to do the important role which he occupies and has no idea of the adverse effects his foolish actions have on people. Kennedy has produced a world in which vaccines may not be available at one’s local pharmacy, and even if they are, one may have to pay out-of-pocket to receive them. The science provided by the American government dictates the inherent fact that COVID-19 vaccines save lives and keep the nation healthier. Kennedy’s actions are working against this simple truth which championed the remarkable strides made by the CDC, as they were able to produce a life-saving vaccine at an unprecedented speed. Kennedy is a deranged individual with a history of well-deserved controversy for his immaturity. His persona, which belongs on a fictional sit-com, now unfortunately substantiates sickness for Americans that is far worse than having to listen to him speak.