Former New York Metropolis Mayor Michael Bloomberg railed towards Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday, utilizing his opening remarks at a public well being convention to warn that Kennedy could be “beyond dangerous” as secretary of the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS), and placing him in cost could be “medical malpractice on a mass scale.”
Talking throughout the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg American Well being Summit in Washington, Bloomberg mentioned he wished Senate Republicans to persuade President-elect Trump to “rethink” Kennedy’s nomination.
“If the president-elect doesn’t reconsider the nomination, the Senate has a duty to our whole country, but especially to our children, to vote no,” Bloomberg mentioned.
Bloomberg famous that Kennedy has attacked Operation Warp Velocity, this system that fast-tracked a COVID-19 vaccine in report time. Bloomberg mentioned it might be thought of Trump’s largest first-term accomplishment, but Kennedy has referred to as the shot the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”
“If RFK Jr. had been in office during Trump’s first term, would Operation Warp Speed have even happened? And if it did, how long would the vaccines have been delayed? How many fewer people would have gotten the shot? How many more people would have died?” Bloomberg requested.
Kennedy has a protracted historical past of vaccine skepticism, together with spreading the false and discredited declare that the measles, mumps and rubella shot could cause autism.
If he’s confirmed as Well being and Human Providers secretary, Kennedy would oversee the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, and the Meals and Drug Administration, the businesses accountable for reviewing and approving new vaccines and recommending which pictures individuals ought to get.
“Parents who have been swayed by vaccine skepticism love their children and want to protect them, and we need leaders who will help them do that, not conspiracy theorists who will scare them into decisions that will put their children at risk of disease and even death,” Bloomberg mentioned.
Bloomberg added that he and Kennedy share a want to advertise wholesome consuming and battle using processed meals. However that’s the place their similarities finish.
“I’ve heard a few Democrats express some sympathy for Kennedy because he has been critical of the junk food and processed food industries, but we don’t need to choose between someone who is healthy food and provaccine,” Bloomberg mentioned. “Americans deserve both.”
One other speaker on the convention, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), additionally sounded the alarm about Kennedy and his want to shift the well being businesses’ focus away from infectious illnesses.
“There could not be a more dangerous idea. If we cut back key research programs and lose our progress on innovative therapies, then plain and simple, people will die,” DeLauro mentioned.
DeLauro, the rating member on the Home Appropriations Committee, mentioned Kennedy’s “record of disinformation and death is long and global.”
She criticized Kennedy for discouraging vaccinations in Samoa, the place a 2019 measles outbreak killed 83 individuals, largely youngsters.
“This is where we are at. The stakes of this fight and the stakes behind every decision that the Health and Human Services ssecretary has to make are deadly serious,” DeLauro mentioned.
