Kennedy replied, “Yes.”
He has pushed the unproven claim that Wi-Fi “opens up your blood-brain barrier.”
Kim moved on quickly: “And 5G, do you feel the same way?” Kennedy said yes again, clarifying that he was talking about electromagnetic radiation generally, which “changes DNA” and does “other things.”
9. Lucrative position
On Wednesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) highlighted that Kennedy has made a lot of money from being an anti-vaccine advocate. In the past two years, Kennedy earned $2.5 million from working with a law firm encouraging people to sign up to be part of lawsuits against vaccine makers. If they sign up, Kennedy gets paid. If the law firm wins the case, Kennedy gets a 10 percent cut.
Warren asked Kennedy if he would agree that he wouldn’t take personal compensation from any lawsuits against drug companies while being health secretary and for four years afterward. Kennedy would not agree to do that. Instead he argued that Warren was insisting that he not be allowed to sue drug companies. “No I am not,” she protested, noting that she was only asking that what he did as secretary wouldn’t benefit him financially.
“The bottom line is the same: Kennedy can kill off vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it,” Warren concluded.
“Senator, I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule. I will do that. The only thing I want is good science,” Kennedy replied.
10. Onesies
The last big moment of the hearings goes to Senator Sanders for having the best visual aids. On Wednesday, in the Finance committee hearing, Sanders brought large posters of baby clothes (onesies) that are currently for sale by Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded and ran between 2015 and 2023.
One of the onesies read “Unvaxxed Unafraid” and the other read “No Vax No Problem.” Both are currently on sale for $26 each.
Sanders asked Kennedy if he would ask CHD to stop selling them. Kennedy didn’t answer the question, only noting he had resigned from CHD to run his political campaigns. Bernie pressed: “Are you supportive of this clothing, which is militantly anti-vaccine?”
“I am supportive of vaccines. I want good science,” Kennedy replied.
“But you will not tell the organization you founded not to continue selling that product,” Bernie concluded.
