Former COVID-19 response chief Dr. Deborah Birx says she's encouraged by Robert. F. Kennedy Jr. following his confirmation hearing for Health and Human Services secretary.
"I heard about his focus on finding out why children already have chronic diseases when we didn't a generation or two ago, why children have increasing autism — finding out why it isn't vaccines, but what it is," Birx said Wednesday during an appearance on Newsmax's "American Agenda."
"And I think parents across America deserve to know what's going on. And I think he brings a compelling argument about chronic disease and food additives. So what I heard today, I was very encouraged."
Kennedy seemed to walk away strong support from Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee to lead the department responsible for $1.7 trillion in federal spending.
He needs backing from most Republicans to land the job. And after the three-hour hearing Wednesday, the vote of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who heads up the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee that Kennedy will sit before Thursday, seemed to be uncertain.
Birx said hearing Kennedy "talk about childhood vaccines and how important they are and having him separate that from COVID vaccines, which don't produce herd immunity, versus childhood vaccines that do is helping to educate the American people about those two vaccines being very different."
"I think it could help with vaccine hesitancy to really have them hear what he's saying about the two different kinds of vaccines," she told Newsmax.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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