Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clarified Monday during his rounds with GOP senators that he supports the polio vaccine amid revelations that one of his allies had filed a 2022 petition to yank approval of the shot.
“I’m all for the polio vaccine,” the Health and Human Services Secretary designee told reporters in between meetings in the Hart Senate Office Building.
Ahead of the Kennedy scion’s charm offensive with senators, it resurfaced that Aaron Siri, an attorney who served as his personal lawyer during his presidential bid, sought in 2022 to get the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the polio vaccine rescinded.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is set to step down from that role this week, had suffered from polio during his youth, which left his upper left leg paralyzed.
McConnell, 82, had publicly advised Kennedy to “steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts” to nix the polio vaccine approval.
President-elect Donald Trump defended polio vaccines during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday.
“I’m a big believer in it, and I think everything should be looked at, but I’m a big believer in the polio vaccine,” Trump, 78, explained.
GOP senators tread carefully
Some potential swing votes on Kennedy’s forthcoming nominations such as Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have been supportive of vaccines and indicated they will scrutinize him.
They’ve been largely mum about exactly where they stand on the HHS pick.
GOP senators have seemingly refrained from preemptively opposing any of Trump’s pick out of fear of unnecessarily roiling the base. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) had faced an intense pressure campaign earlier this month after voicing apprehension about Pentagon boss designee Pete Hegseth.
Ultimately, she backed down and indicated she’d “support Pete through this process.”
“The approach is going to be everybody line up. If you want to survive, you better be good. Don’t get on Santa’s naughty list here because we will primary you,” Murkowski groused last week during a “No Labels Party” event about Trump’s antics during the confirmation process.
She later complained that Ernst was “being hung out to dry” for voicing her concerns.
Thus far, the only Trump pick to crash and burn has been former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who withdrew from consideration to be the Pentagon boss amid efforts to dig up a House Ethics Committee report on accusations of him paying women for sex, including a minor.
Kennedy, 70, had been slated to meet with two dozen senators this week. Following his set of meetings Monday, Republican senators largely sang his praises.
“Finally, we’re gonna have an HHS secretary that wakes up every day and says, ‘how do we keep everybody healthy in this country,’” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told reporters after meeting him.
“He’s gonna have a lot of opportunity to do that. I’m completely supportive of what he wants to accomplish and I wish him the best of luck.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) later told reporters that Kennedy gave him assurances he “100% supports the polio vaccination.”
Abortion
Aside from his skepticism about vaccine safety, Kennedy has also been met with unease from conservative groups over his pro-abortion rights stance.
Kennedy has given no indication that he’s changed his opinion on the contentious issue. However, several Republican senators have indicated that they are able to look past his position.
“He said he serves the will the president, United States and he’ll be pushing his policies forward. Well, we know where the president is on this,” Mullin told reporters about Kennedy’s abortion stance.
Swing senators Collins and Murkowski have long been supportive of abortion rights, pitting them at odds with Republican orthodoxy.
Could Democrats back RFK Jr?
Having been a registered Democrat who mounted an unsuccessful primary against President Biden in the 2024 cycle before dropping out and vying as an Independent, Kennedy has gotten some attention from Democrats.
While there is a general unease with his past commentary on vaccines, Kennedy’s clamoring to crack down on the food industry to root out unhealthy chemicals has gotten praise from Democrats.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), for instance, called his position on food policy “exactly correct,” while bashing his vaccine positions as “extremely dangerous.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has dropped hints that he has similar concerns about the food industry.
No Senate Democrat has publicly committed to backing Kennedy. However, in the past, cross-party support for presidential picks has not been uncommon.
