MSNBC's political reporter Vaughn Hillyard challenged Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tuesday after he claimed that he didn't want to eliminate vaccines.
Kennedy has spent years opposing vaccines, according to many reports. But when he spoke to Hillyard, he promised to ensure they were accessible to anyone who wanted them.
As FactCheck.org wrote, "Kennedy insists he’s not ‘anti-vaccine,’ but many of his debunked arguments are straight from the anti-vaccine playbook, which he and his nonprofit have helped write.”
Trump announced during a Nevada rally last week that Kennedy was "going to work on health and women's health."
Also Read: RFK Jr. earns millions from conservative and anti-vax companies: disclosure
"Would that include COVID vaccines that are currently on the market?" asked the reporter.
Kenndy hedged, saying he wanted the "best science" for vaccines, and Hillyard seized on the moment.
"As part of that, during the pandemic, the height of the pandemic, you were questioning the FDA and calling them out for approving the emergency authorization of the COVID vaccines. If you had been in charge of the FDA at that time, would you have blocked the authorization of the COVID vaccines?"
Kennedy claimed that he argued that vaccines wouldn't stop transmission.
"They were saying you need to take this vaccine in order to protect. I knew in May 2020 that the vaccines were not going to protect against transmission. I was reading the studies," Kennedy said.
The government had claimed that the vaccine would lessen the severity of the illness if transmitted and reduce the number of people dying in hospitals.
Hillyard challenged whether RFK would have allowed the vaccine, and Kenndy dodged again, saying he would have been "honest."
"You wouldn't have blocked it?" Hillyard hammered.
"I wouldn't directly block it," Kennedy said. "I would have made sure we had the best science. There was no effort to do that at that time."
So Hillyard asked why the American people should have confidence that he would ensure a vaccine was available in the future in a similar situation. He also grilled Kennedy on which agencies he would eliminate, a question that comes from the politician's campaign pledge to close down the Food and Drug Administration and Center for Disease Control.
Watch the interview below or at the link here.
