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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded Friday that President Donald Trump dismiss Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accusing him of undermining public health.
Schumer claimed Kennedy’s “stubborn, pigheaded and conspiracy-based attacks on proven science are going to make many more people sick and cause more deaths.”
His remarks came just two days after Susan Monarez was fired as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a move that prompted the resignations of several senior officials, including Demetre Daskalakis, Daniel Jernigan, and Debra Houry.
“Donald Trump knew Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be a disastrous pick to lead healthcare in America, and he nominated him anyway,” Schumer said in a statement posted on the Senate Democrats’ website. “Donald Trump made this mistake and now he must fire RFK Jr. immediately.”
The White House said Wednesday that Monarez was dismissed because she “refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so,” and that she was not “aligned with the president’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.” Reports indicated her removal stemmed from the rescinding of approvals for COVID-19 vaccinations.
On Thursday, Kennedy responded by saying the CDC “is in trouble, and we need to fix it, and we are fixing it. And it may be that some people should not be working there anymore.”
That explanation did little to satisfy Schumer, who escalated his criticism: “RFK Jr.’s stubborn, pigheaded, and conspiracy-based attacks on proven science are going to make many more people sick and cause more deaths. Americans are in greater danger every day Robert Kennedy Jr. remains as HHS secretary. By keeping Robert Kennedy in charge of HHS, Trump is doubling down on his own failure. President Trump must admit his mistake and remove Kennedy now.”
