Mike Pence hates RFK Jr. too—but for such a Mike Pence reason
dailykos.com (nprofile…k7aw)
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday came out against Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a role that would put him in charge of overseeing the country’s health care infrastructure in order to keep Americans healthy. But Pence didn’t condemn the choice for the reasons you may think. His critical statement mentioned nothing about Kennedy’s dangerous anti-vaccine views, which helped lead to a measles outbreak in American Samoa that led dozens of children to die of a preventable disease. Nor did Pence slam Kennedy’s other insane positions, including the fact that he promotes the consumption of dangerous raw milk, which can lead to preventable foodborne illness; that he falsely linked antidepressants with mass shootings; that he falsely said chemicals in the country’s water are causing kids to be gay or transgender; that he wants to remove fluoride from America’s drinking water, which could lead to dental decay in children; that he believes the wild conspiracy that 5G wireless is being used to “control our behavior”; and that he pushed ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as COVID treatments, even though they were found to be useless. Instead, Pence is against Kennedy because Kennedy isn’t sufficiently anti-abortion enough for Pence’s liking. In a statement, Pence said Kennedy’s nomination "is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades.” “If confirmed, RFK, Jr. would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history,” Pence wrote in the statement. Trump became strange bedfellows with the notorious anti-vaxxer after Kennedy made a deal to drop his independent bid for president in order to back Trump and help him win another term in the White House. Trump then nominated Kennedy to “go wild” on the country’s food and health policies. Kennedy has reportedly been spreading his anti-vaccine views to Trump’s transition team already, with the co-chair of the team telling CNN that it’s possible the Trump administration may pull product liability insurance for vaccine makers, which would force them to take vaccines off the market. Scientists are terrified Kennedy could also thwart the creation of new vaccines, which could cause unnecessary suffering and possibly more death if another pandemic strikes. Even the New York Post—run by Republican megadonor and Fox News head Rupert Murdoch—warned about the dangers of putting Kennedy at the helm of HHS. The Post’s editorial board wrote that Kennedy’s views on health were “a head-scratching spaghetti of what we can only call warped conspiracy theories.” They went on to say: A radical, prolonged and confused transition ordered by a guy like RFK Jr., who will use his high office to spout his controversial beliefs, leaves a lot of room for things to go wrong—and for people to wind up harmed or even dead. [...] Donald Trump won on promises to fix the economy, the border and soaring global disorder; his team needs to focus on delivering change on those fronts — not spend energy either having to defend crackpot theories or trying to control RFK Jr.’s mouth. Still, few GOP senators have spoken out against Kennedy’s nomination—and they ultimately have the power to confirm him for the post. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a conspiracy theorist in his own right, called Kennedy "a brilliant, courageous truth-teller.” Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, one of the dumbest senators in the chamber, said Kennedy was “an absolutely brilliant pick by President Trump.” Even Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, an actual medical doctor who is considered a more moderate Republican (if you believe those still exist), didn’t condemn Kenendy’s nomination, saying in a statement that Kennedy “has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure.” We are truly living in terrifying times. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/15/2286531/-Mike-Pence-hates-RFK-Jr-too-but-for-such-a-Mike-Pence-reason?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main
Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday came out against Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a role that would put him in charge of overseeing the country’s health care infrastructure in order to keep Americans healthy. But Pence didn’t condemn the choice for the reasons you may think. His critical statement mentioned nothing about Kennedy’s dangerous anti-vaccine views, which helped lead to a measles outbreak in American Samoa that led dozens of children to die of a preventable disease. Nor did Pence slam Kennedy’s other insane positions, including the fact that he promotes the consumption of dangerous raw milk, which can lead to preventable foodborne illness; that he falsely linked antidepressants with mass shootings; that he falsely said chemicals in the country’s water are causing kids to be gay or transgender; that he wants to remove fluoride from America’s drinking water, which could lead to dental decay in children; that he believes the wild conspiracy that 5G wireless is being used to “control our behavior”; and that he pushed ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as COVID treatments, even though they were found to be useless. Instead, Pence is against Kennedy because Kennedy isn’t sufficiently anti-abortion enough for Pence’s liking. In a statement, Pence said Kennedy’s nomination "is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades.” “If confirmed, RFK, Jr. would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history,” Pence wrote in the statement. Trump became strange bedfellows with the notorious anti-vaxxer after Kennedy made a deal to drop his independent bid for president in order to back Trump and help him win another term in the White House. Trump then nominated Kennedy to “go wild” on the country’s food and health policies. Kennedy has reportedly been spreading his anti-vaccine views to Trump’s transition team already, with the co-chair of the team telling CNN that it’s possible the Trump administration may pull product liability insurance for vaccine makers, which would force them to take vaccines off the market. Scientists are terrified Kennedy could also thwart the creation of new vaccines, which could cause unnecessary suffering and possibly more death if another pandemic strikes. Even the New York Post—run by Republican megadonor and Fox News head Rupert Murdoch—warned about the dangers of putting Kennedy at the helm of HHS. The Post’s editorial board wrote that Kennedy’s views on health were “a head-scratching spaghetti of what we can only call warped conspiracy theories.” They went on to say: A radical, prolonged and confused transition ordered by a guy like RFK Jr., who will use his high office to spout his controversial beliefs, leaves a lot of room for things to go wrong—and for people to wind up harmed or even dead. [...] Donald Trump won on promises to fix the economy, the border and soaring global disorder; his team needs to focus on delivering change on those fronts — not spend energy either having to defend crackpot theories or trying to control RFK Jr.’s mouth. Still, few GOP senators have spoken out against Kennedy’s nomination—and they ultimately have the power to confirm him for the post. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a conspiracy theorist in his own right, called Kennedy "a brilliant, courageous truth-teller.” Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, one of the dumbest senators in the chamber, said Kennedy was “an absolutely brilliant pick by President Trump.” Even Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, an actual medical doctor who is considered a more moderate Republican (if you believe those still exist), didn’t condemn Kenendy’s nomination, saying in a statement that Kennedy “has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure.” We are truly living in terrifying times. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/15/2286531/-Mike-Pence-hates-RFK-Jr-too-but-for-such-a-Mike-Pence-reason?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main