Capitol Police removed several protesters from a Senate hearing on Wednesday after they disrupted testimony by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Among those protesters was Ben and Jerry cofounder Ben Cohen.
The incident occurred just minutes after Kennedy began speaking before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Multiple audience members stood up and were heard shouting, “RFK kills people with AIDS.” According to USA Today, Capitol Police immediately intervened, escorting the protesters from the room and tackling some to the floor.
Earlier in the day, Kennedy testified before a House committee, where he fielded questions about vaccines, including whether he would vaccinate his own children. When asked by Representative Mark Pocan about the measles vaccine in the context of a recent outbreak in West Texas that resulted in the deaths of two children and one adult, Kennedy said he would “probably” vaccinate his children against measles. However, he added, “My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant.” When questioned about vaccines for chickenpox and polio, Kennedy replied, “I don’t want to give advice.”
Kennedy also had a viral moment in which he lashed out at lawmakers regarding plans to make school lunches healthier for children.
“I’ve been touring these Head Start facilities, and everything they eat is in a package. It’s loaded with sugar and with chemicals,” Kennedy explained. “We’re poisoning this generation… the poorest kids in our country, and we’re starting them out with this count against them.”
He continued, “If anybody thinks that we did gold standard medicine in this country from these institutions, look at our children! They’re the sickest children in the world.”
During the Senate hearing, Kennedy was questioned about spending cuts made at NIH under the Trump administration. Senator Patty Murray asked Kennedy about cuts that affected clinical trials for cancer patients, to which the HHS Secretary replied that "no clinical trials should be affected by the cuts."
This marks Kennedy’s first appearance before Congress since being confirmed as HHS Secretary in January.
