He said he wasn’t going to do this
More on Kennedy’s campaign to make America sick again:
Kennedy said the committee members had too many conflicts of interest. Currently, committee members are required to declare any potential such conflicts, as well as business interests, that arise during their tenure. They also must disclose any possible conflicts at the start of each public meeting.
But Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Kennedy’s actions were based on false conflict-of-interest claims and set “a dangerous and unprecedented action that makes our families less safe” by potentially reducing vaccine access for millions of people.
“Make no mistake: Politicizing the ACIP as Secretary Kennedy is doing will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it,” he said in a statement. “We’ll look back at this as a grave mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust, and opened the door for fringe theories rather than facts.”
We already look at it that way.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy’s mass ouster “a coup.”
“It’s not how democracies work. It’s not good for the health of the nation,” Benjamin told The Associated Press.
Benjamin said the move raises real concerns about whether future committee members will be viewed as impartial. He added that Kennedy is going against what he told lawmakers and the public, and the public health association plans to watch Kennedy “like a hawk.”
“He is breaking a promise,” Benjamin said. “He said he wasn’t going to do this.”
Yeah well. He’s a liar. Big surprise.
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who had expressed reservations about Kennedy’s nomination but voted to install him as the nation’s health secretary nonetheless, said he had spoken with Kennedy moments after the announcement.
“Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Cassidy said in a social media post. “I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”
In your dreams. He’ll do whatever he wants.
He expressed reservations, but voted to approve him anyway. In short, this is at least in part his fault. Why would anyone except the most partisan hack vote to install someone like Kennedy, a man with no qualifications, to be in charge of medical agencies, especially with the many public statements Kennedy has made about vaccines and other things? He was obviously wacky, long before Trump appointed him. There were a zillion red lights flashing on this (and most of Trump’s nominations), but the Senate confirmed them anyway. Now they want to disclaim responsibility under the guise of ‘he said he wouldn’t do it’. Sucker.
This is like Senator Collins from Maine believing that Trump had “learned his lesson” after his first impeachment.
She said that??
Oy. Yes she did.
Found the problem. He was voted in 52-48, and a doctor of all people should not have been on the anti-vax side. But tribalism and fear of being primaried, i.e. self-interest, won out.
Susan Collins was right; Trump did learn his lesson. He learned that he can do anything he wants, and no one is going to stop him.