Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell calls RFK Jr. a ‘charlatan’ in Senate hearing

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, of Washington, called Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “charlatan” over his stance against vaccines during a heated Senate hearing on Thursday.

“And you, sir, you’re a charlatan. That’s what you are. You’re the ones who conflate chronic disease with the need for vaccines. The history on vaccines is very clear,” she told Kennedy Thursday.

During his testimony, Kennedy defended his firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Susan Monarez and his questioning of vaccine efficacy.

“These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold-standard public health agency,” Kennedy told the bipartisan panel of senators. “The people at the CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving.”

Kennedy also faced tough remarks from some Republican senators, including Sen. John Barrasso, a physician from Wyoming, who said he has “grown deeply concerned” amid measles outbreaks and the questioning of using promising mRNA vaccines.

The White House praised Kennedy after the hearing.

The CDC firings and turmoil led California, Oregon and Washington to form the West Coast Health Alliance, which will provide vaccine recommendations opposed to those coming out of the federal government.

“Yes, the governors of the West – Washington, Oregon, and California – will take up the efficacy of science,” Cantwell said. “Yes, the University of Washington will deliver the science that America will depend on.”

Both Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray, also of Washington, have called for Kennedy to be fired.

Amanda Sullender can be reached at (509) 459-5455 or by email at amandas@spokesman.com.