Former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Saturday weighed in on President-elect Trump's choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department, calling it a “life-or-death decision.” “It was a decision,” he said.
Sebelius: “This is life or death.” said Clip from MSNBC's “Jonathan Capehart's Saturday Show” highlighted by Mediaite. “HHS affects people from birth to grave and has close ties to every state in the country.”
President Kennedy, who has a history of anti-vaccination activism, said in a recent interview that he does not want to take away approved vaccines, but he also said health agencies are not doing the necessary research on them.
“So this could be very dangerous. For someone who is heading up this country's leading health agency and trying to be one of the world's leaders, to say unequivocally that there is no safe and effective vaccine… I think it’s a complete disqualification,” Sebelius said.
“The very words that come from the pulpits of the HHS bullies can ultimately kill people and harm children,” the former HHS secretary said.
“My grandson is still too young to have had too many vaccinations, but it's scary to be exposed to polio and measles to unvaccinated people. I think they need to understand how serious it is.”
After nominating Kennedy to the HHS role, President Trump said he would “restore these agencies to a tradition of gold-standard scientific research and a beacon of transparency, end the chronic disease epidemic, and make America great and healthy again.” “Yes!” he said.
“For too long, the American people have been overwhelmed by food complexes and drug companies that have perpetrated deceit, misinformation, and disinformation about public health,” President Trump said on social media at the time.
Sebelius also recently told CNN that the idea of Kennedy leading HHS is “very frightening” for Americans.
“The entry of someone into a scientific institution who is skeptical about vaccines and who has the potential to undermine decades of public health work is a huge challenge to HHS from cradle to grave for resources, information, and public health.” “I think it's terrible for the American people who depend on it for oversight of our food and medicines,” Sebelius told CNN's John Berman.
The Hill has reached out to Trump's transition team for comment.
