Democrats confront Trump’s pick for health secretary over his seemingly contradictory statements

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Robert F Kennedy Jr’s combative Senate confirmation hearing for health secretary erupted into fierce exchanges on Wednesday morning, as Democrats confronted one of the US’s most prominent vaccine skeptics, who will possibly be handed the reins of America’s public health system.

The Senate finance committee ranking member, Ron Wyden, challenged the 71-year-old Kennedy over seemingly contradictory statements, reading quotes from podcasts in which Kennedy had claimed “no vaccine is safe and effective” while testifying under oath that he supports vaccines. He read another quote from 2020 how Kennedy claimed he regretted vaccinating his children.