Democratic Lawmaker Dresses Down RFK Jr. for Allowing ‘Conspiracy Theories to Run Our Public Health’

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) absolutely roasted Robert Kennedy Jr. and his conspiracy theories as the HHS chief was grilled by lawmakers during a Capitol Hill hearing on Thursday.

The moment played out as Kennedy testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.

Thompson began with what he called an “easy one.”

“Mr. Secretary, do you have a medical or public health degree?” Thompson asked.

“No,” Kennedy replied.

With that out of the way, Thompson then unleashed President Donald Trump’s top health official.

“Yet you’re overruling doctors, scientists, and public health experts across our country,” Thompson said. “Your dangerous conspiracy theories are undermining safe and effective vaccines.”

Thompson invoked polio as an example:

Mr. Secretary, I want to echo my friend the ranking member’s comments about polio. I remember as a kid, kids older than me, in school with me, who got polio. They live with the lasting impacts of that infection for the rest of their lives. I was fortunate to get the polio vaccine. And I was fortunate to never get polio because of that vaccine. And because we’re about the same age, I’m sure you have similar experiences, but now you undermine vaccines and are helping make diseases deadly again.

Thompson then pointed to a recent Sacramento Bee article on measles, saying cases in California have spiked from 514 after four years of former President Joe Biden to 2,300 after just one year under Trump.

“Mr. Secretary, kids have died because measles is running rampant under your watch, in large part because President Trump allowed your conspiracy theories to run our public health,” Thompson said.

In an attack at the Trump administration, he added:

Americans need serious leadership grounded in evidence and science. Instead, we have you and this president elevating misinformation and undermining basic public health. HHS should be led by professionals who respect science and data, listen to doctors, and put patients first. Not by rhetoric, not by conspiracy and not by ignoring established medical facts. So today, Mr. Secretary, this is not just about policy differences. It’s about whether this department is going to protect the health of the American people or put them at greater risk. Right now, it looks like the latter.

Concluding, Thompson delivered one final blow to Kennedy.

“Let’s be honest where this leads,” he said. “People will get sicker, preventable conditions will go untreated, and people will die. Mr. Secretary, you shouldn’t be in this office.”

Kennedy did not offer a response.

Watch above via C-SPAN 3.

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