WASHINGTON ― Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) delivered a fiery rebuke Thursday of President Donald Trump’s health and human services nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his history of fanning conspiracy theories about vaccines, becoming emotional as she described raising a son with cerebral palsy and the need to build on settled science.
During Kennedy’s confirmation hearing, Hassan called it “disturbing” that some Republicans have accused Democrats of opposing Kennedy’s nomination for partisan reasons. In fact, she said, Democratic senators take their role seriously when it comes to vetting potential Cabinet secretaries, and many have concerns about Kennedy’s distrust of science.
“You may not know that I am the proud mother of a 36-year-old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” Hassan said, choking up. “A day does not go by when I don’t think about, ‘What did I do when I was pregnant with him that might have caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life?’”
The New Hampshire Democrat condemned the suggestion that any senator, in either party, doesn’t want to know what causes autism.
“Do you know how many friends I have with children who have autism?” she asked, her voice rising. “The problem with this witness’ response on the autism cause and the relationship to vaccines is because he’s relitigating and churning settled science. So we can’t go forward and find out what the cause of autism is and treat these kids and help these families.”
Directly addressing Kennedy, Hassan referenced a well-known and now-debunked 1998 study linking vaccines and autism, saying it “rocked my world” and left her worried “like any mother” about whether vaccines had “done something” to her son. In fact, that study, which only involved 12 children and went on to be extensively reviewed, turned out to be wrong. The medical journal that originally published it retracted it.
“Sometimes science is wrong. We make progress,” said the New Hampshire Democrat. “When you continue to sow doubt about settled science, it makes it impossible for us to move forward. So that’s what the problem is here.”
Kennedy didn’t say anything in response as Hassan moved on with questions about Medicaid. When she wrapped up, people in the audience clapped.
It’s not clear if Kennedy has the votes to be confirmed. His record of spreading vaccine misinformation and his shaky understanding of how federal health programs work have alarmed senators in both parties. He also has to clear two Senate panels: the Finance Committee, which held its confirmation hearing Wednesday, and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which held Thursday’s hearing.
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Kennedy didn’t do so well in Wednesday’s hearing, flubbing basic questions from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who is a physician, about how Medicaid works. And on Thursday, he raised eyebrows with his responses to questions about vaccine safety from Cassidy, who chairs the health panel. The Louisiana Republican has been mum on whether he will support Kennedy’s nomination.
Trump first began considering Kennedy for the Cabinet post after Kennedy dropped his presidential bid against him in August.