Kennedy says he’s ‘all for’ polio vaccine as GOP senators raise questions about his views

By Eric Bradner, CNN

(CNN) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is trying to tamp down concerns about his history of vaccine skepticism as he meets with GOP senators who will vote on whether to confirm him as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy on Monday told reporters on Capitol Hill that he is “all for” the polio vaccine — comments that came hours after Trump said at a news conference that Americans are “not going to lose the polio vaccine.”

Several GOP senators later Monday said they would press Kennedy to fully explain his views and intentions about vaccines before deciding whether to support him — highlighting the work that lies ahead for Trump’s HHS pick.

Asked about Kennedy saying he supports the polio vaccine, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key centrist Republican who will meet Kennedy this week, said, “I haven’t heard that. But then I guess it begs the question: is it just that one vaccine or kind of where is it coming from more broadly?”

She continued: “So, those are the conversations that I think are important for me to have with him, because I do think that vaccines save lives.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, who sits on the health committee, said he wants to give Kennedy the opportunity to explain his views on vaccines.

“If they are as reported, of course,” the North Carolina Republican said when asked if he was concerned by what he’s heard.

“I think it’s hard to dispute that vaccines are probably one of the key factors behind our life expectancies and eliminating scourges that killed millions of people before vaccine,” he added.

Trump and Kennedy’s insistence on Monday that the incoming administration would not target a vaccine in use since 1955 followed reports that a lawyer affiliated with Kennedy has petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of the polio vaccine used in the United States. If Kennedy is confirmed as head of HHS, he’ll oversee the FDA and could take the rare step of intervening in its petition review process.

Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, issued an apparent warning to Kennedy in a letter last week, writing that “anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association” with efforts to rescind the approval of the polio vaccine.

The letter was referenced by incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune in saying Kennedy will need to explain if he supports people being vaccinated against polio.

“I expect that’s one that I and many other of my colleagues will probably raise with him,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott defended Kennedy after sitting down with him, saying the two both want “transparency” on vaccines.

“What he wants with vaccines is, which is what I believe in, is transparency. I think we need to know exactly, with all vaccines, what has been the research and, you know, do they work? And what’s your risk?” he told CNN when asked what Kennedy had said about vaccines.

Kennedy refused to answer CNN’s questions Monday about whether he stands by his previous comments tying vaccines to autism.

But Kennedy told Sen. Markwayne Mullin he plans to “question” the science of vaccines, the Oklahoma senator told reporters after meeting with the HHS pick.

Pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju if Kennedy would encourage people not to vaccinate their children, Mullin said, “No, I don’t think so. I think he’s going to question science, and I’m glad he’s going to question it.”

Mullin told reporters he and Kennedy discussed autism rates in the US, but that Kennedy did not specifically link that to the use of vaccines, as he has in the past. “He said, ‘We’ve got to question it. What’s causing it?’” Mullin said. He added that Kennedy told him he “100%” supported the polio vaccine, and the Oklahoma senator expressed his belief that “that one’s different.”

Kennedy often treaded carefully around the vaccine issue as a presidential candidate. In a July 2023 Fox News interview, Kennedy — then still running as a Democrat — said, “I do believe that autism does come from vaccines, but I think most of the things people believe about my opinions about vaccines are wrong.”

Kennedy, who later launched an independent presidential campaign before dropping out to endorse Trump, is meeting with GOP senators this week as Trump’s team prepares for what could be contentious confirmation hearings.

In Kennedy, Trump tapped a member of perhaps the most prominent Democratic family — one of the 11 children of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. However, he also chose a promoter of vaccine misinformation whose history of false claims of connections between vaccines and autism have made him a controversial choice to lead HHS.

Kennedy’s past support for abortion rights could also prove problematic for some Republicans. Mullin said Kennedy told him he “serves the will of the president of the United States” and would be pushing policies supported by Trump, who has said he thinks abortion should be left to the states.

In next year’s GOP-controlled Senate, Kennedy can afford to lose only three GOP votes, if all Democrats oppose him. The extent of his bipartisan appeal, however, is still an open question, with some liberals praising his commitment to taking on pharmaceutical companies as well as challenging the use of pesticides and the consumption of processed food.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat, told CNN’s Pam Brown on Tuesday that Kennedy has worked on some issues she cares about, like food safety and clean air and water. “So I think there’s a great deal of issues where we might find, we may find common ground on with Mr. Kennedy,” she said. “And I look forward to exploring those before I decide how I’m going to vote.”

Pressed on what it would take to back him to lead HHS, Gillibrand returned to vaccines. “I just want to make sure there’s going to be no reduction in access to vaccines for school age children. We know that vaccines work,” she said on “CNN Newsroom.”

Kennedy and Trump’s comments on Monday suggest that it’s Kennedy’s vaccine positions that have raised the most concerns about his ability to be confirmed.

In his news conference Monday at Mar-a-Lago, when asked whether he believes there is a connection between vaccines and autism, Trump said, “Right now, you have some very brilliant people looking at it.”

“We’re going to look into finding, why is the autism rate so much higher than it was 20, 25, 30 years ago? And it’s like — it’s 100 times higher. There’s something wrong, and we’re going to try that,” Trump said.

Experts say that although autism is more common than in the past, it’s probably largely due to increases in awareness of the signs, better screening and coverage for services, and changes in the criteria for diagnosis

Trump said he’d dined recently with pharmaceutical executives, Kennedy, and his pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz. In defending Kennedy, Trump called him “a very rational guy.”

Trump also acknowledged the significance of the polio vaccine, saying he knew people afflicted with the disease that was all but eradicated when vaccines were developed, and he credited polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk by name.

This story has been updated Tuesday with additional information.

CNN’s Manu Raju, Ali Main, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer and Brenda Goodman contributed to this report.

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