Bernie Sanders praises Trump on Covid vaccine, pushes RFK Jr to admit it ‘saved millions of lives’

WASHINGTON, DC: Sen Bernie Sanders clashed with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr during a fiery Senate Finance Committee hearing on his health policies on Thursday, September 4. 

The back-and-forth centered on RFK Jr's past remarks about Covid-19 vaccines and his decision to fire the CDC director. Sanders repeatedly pressed him to answer whether vaccines had saved millions of lives, as President Donald Trump and medical experts have claimed.

Bernie Sanders cites Trump as he grills RFK Jr on Covid vaccine

Bernie Sanders pointed to Donald Trump’s praise of the Covid vaccines, quoting him as saying they were “one of the greatest miracles in the history of modern-day medicine that saved tens of millions of lives worldwide.”

He noted that the scientific community largely agreed with Trump, citing a Lancet study showing vaccines prevented almost 20 million deaths in their first year.

Sanders then asked RFK Jr directly if Trump and the medical community were correct, or if he still believed the Covid vaccine was “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”

The HHS secretary replied, “No, first of all, I didn’t say that. I said that in terms of VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) reports a while ago. I said today, I think that President Trump should get the Nobel Prize.”

Sanders pressed again, asking, “So who’s right? Is Trump and the medical community right? Or are you right?” RFK Jr responded, “President Trump did an extraordinary piece of leadership.”

“Is he right or wrong? Did Covid [vaccines] save millions of lives?” Sanders pushed once more.

RFK Jr conceded, “As I said, he got Americans back to work. At that time, that particular vaccine was perfectly matched to the virus that was circulating then, and I have no idea how many lives it saved, but it saved quite a few.”

Bernie Sanders challenges RFK Jr's stance on vaccines

Bernie Sanders pressed RFK Jr on why he continued to cast doubt on vaccines despite widespread support from health organizations.

“You know what I find a little bit weird in this discussion — I’m hearing it over and over again this morning, Mr Chairman,” Sanders said. “We’ve got the entire medical community on one side. You’ve got the AMA representing hundreds of thousands of doctors, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Public Health Association. And all of these organizations are telling us that Covid vaccines and vaccines in general are safe and effective."

"You are casting doubt on that. Who are your scientific advisors? Who are the organizations agreeing with you in casting aspersions on vaccines?” Sanders asked.

The HHS secretary replied, “The primary advisors are Marty Makary, Jay Bhattacharya, Dr Oz, Vinay Prasad.”

Sanders fired back, “So you’ve got a few doctors who agree with you.” Kennedy countered, “I’m giving you the names. Not a few. What you’re talking about is there’s a big difference, Senator, between established science and the scientific establishment, which has been co-opted by the pharmaceutical [industry].”

Bernie Sanders and RFK Jr clash over pharma donations

Bernie Sanders pressed further, asking if RFK Jr was telling Americans that groups like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics had been “co-opted” and that people should not trust their doctors.

He added that every Republican had received PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry and asked, “Are they all corrupt as well?”

RFK Jr began to respond, “The American Heart Association has been co-opted by the—” before Sanders cut him off.

“Everybody but you?” Sanders shot back. “When you ran for president — you know we have a corrupt campaign finance system—you received about $300,000 from individuals. Does that make you corrupt? President Trump got $3 million. Every Republican and Democrat has taken pharmaceutical PAC money. Is everybody corrupt but you? I don’t think so.”

RFK Jr answered, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” to which Sanders said, “Well, I think you do.”