At a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick to be the nation’s health secretary, there was discussion of abortion, Medicaid, and Covid-19.
There was also discussion of onesies.
About two hours into the hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, one member, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), displayed posters showing onesies for infants sold online by Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit that RFK Jr. chaired until last year.
The onesies say “Unvaxxed, Unafraid” and “No vax. No problem.”
Sanders noted the onesies cost $26 apiece and pressed RFK Jr. to say whether he supported their message.
“Are you supportive of these onesies?” Sanders repeated several times, raising his voice in a contentious exchange.
RFK Jr. responded that he has nothing to do with the merchandise and that he supports “vaccines and good science.”
Sanders used the products to underscore his argument that RFK Jr. is profiting off of attempts to sow doubts about vaccine safety, despite the nominee’s remarks to the contrary. Several other Democratic senators also highlighted RFK Jr.’s past statements raising questions about the safety of vaccines.
“You say you’re a pro-vaccine… yet your organization is making money selling a child’s product to parents for 26 bucks, which casts fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines,” Sanders said.
The senator also asked RFK Jr. if he would make sure those baby clothes are taken off the market. The nominee replied that he has “no power” over CHD. RFK Jr. took leave from the nonprofit, which he chaired, during his presidential campaign and officially left CHD in December, according to his financial disclosures.
RFK Jr.’s advocacy against vaccination has included disproven claims that “autism comes from vaccines” and conspiracy theories purporting that government officials and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates have colluded to advance vaccines to profit themselves. He’s also advanced these ideas through that nonprofit organization, which has also filed lawsuits related to vaccinations.
On Tuesday, his niece shared emails with STAT showing that RFK Jr. made false statements about the safety of shots for Covid-19 and wrongly linked childhood immunizations to autism.
Earlier in the hearing, RFK Jr. sought to address criticisms and concerns about his vaccine stance in his opening remarks. He told senators that “news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither, I am pro-safety.”
The hearing was briefly interrupted as someone in attendance yelled, “You lie,” after these remarks.