Sanders to RFK Jr.: 'Do You Support These Onesies?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was grilled by members of the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday in the first of two confirmation hearings. President Trump's nominee to lead Health and Human Services faced questions about his stance on issues including vaccines, abortion—and onesies.

• "Do you support these onesies?" Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders asked Kennedy about onesies sold by the Children's Health Defense group he co-founded, including one with the slogan, "No Vax, No Problem," the New York Times reports. "I support vaccines," Kennedy replied. Sanders also called Kennedy out for changing his stance on abortion, saying, "I have never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when Trump asked you to become HHS secretary."

• "Something is poisoning the American people." Asked by Republican Sen. Roger Marshall about his plan to "make America healthy again," Kennedy said fixing the food supply was his first priority, citing epidemics of chronic illnesses. "Something is poisoning the American people," he said, adding that processed foods are the "primary culprit."
• "All of these things cannot be true." Sen. Ron Wyden said Kennedy's remarks to the panel about supporting vaccines conflicted with remarks he had made on podcasts that "no vaccine is safe and effective," the Guardian reports. "All of these things cannot be true," Wyden said. "So are you lying to Congress today when you say you are pro-vaccine, or did you lie on all those podcasts?" Kennedy said his remarks had been taken out of context and that he supports the measles and polio vaccines.
• "Frankly, you frighten people." Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a friend of Kennedy's from law school, told Kennedy that he frightens people and said Americans need to hear a "clear and trustworthy recantation of what you have said on vaccinations," Fox News reports. "You're in the hole pretty deep," Whitehouse said.

• "I don't have a broad proposal for dismantling the program." Kennedy told Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician, that his plan to reform Medicaid won't involve dismantling the program that supplies health care to around 80 million low-income Americans, the AP reports. The New York Times reports that Kennedy "displayed a surprising lack of familiarity with Medicare and Medicaid" in his exchange with Cassidy. He said Medicaid is "fully paid for" by the federal government, when it is funded with a combination of federal and state funds. He also claimed that people in the program were unhappy because premiums and deductibles were "too high," though the vast majority of them don't pay either.

The Times notes that it doesn't appear that any minds on the panel were changed, though Cassidy is seen as a "wild card." Kennedy will appear before the Senate health committee, which is chaired by Cassidy, on Thursday. (More Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stories.)