CNN’s Jennings Blasts Liberal Panel Over RFK Jr’s HHS Nomination Criticisms [WATCH]

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings defended Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a panel discussion late Thursday, pushing back against criticism from other commentators about Kennedy’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

The debate highlighted broader issues of public distrust in health agencies, sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump announced Kennedy’s nomination in a statement Thursday, triggering backlash from liberal politicians and media figures who labeled him a threat to public health.

I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 14, 2024

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Jennings responded by pointing to the historic low trust in agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), arguing that bureaucratic mismanagement during the pandemic created a climate of skepticism.

“You, doctor [Devi Nampiaparampil], are raising the issues that [Kennedy] has been raising and I think they are appropriate questions to raise,” Jennings said during the panel. “I don’t know if he can be confirmed or not, the vaccine stuff at the table is obviously going to be the flashpoint of this hearing. But I will tell you one thing, this whole issue of the CDC and these public health agencies, look, public trust in the health regime in this country is as low as it’s ever been.”

Jennings attributed this distrust to the COVID-19 pandemic’s lockdowns, school closures, and mandates. “Because of COVID, because of school closures, because of mask mandates, because this country was drugged through a bunch of condescending and heavy-handed mandates that all turned out to be garbage and that’s why it’s low and the questions are valid,” he said.

This drew pushback from Democratic congressional candidate John Avlon, who accused Kennedy of spreading disinformation that contributed to public mistrust and deaths during the pandemic.

Avlon argued that Kennedy’s statements about vaccines had been harmful, to which Jennings replied, “The CDC led to its own demise.”

Kennedy has made controversial claims about vaccines, including calling the COVID-19 vaccine the “deadliest vaccine ever made” during a 2021 hearing on Louisiana’s proposal to vaccinate schoolchildren.

He has also accused government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), of “mass poisoning the American public.”

The CDC and other government entities implemented widespread lockdowns, school closures, and mask mandates throughout the pandemic.

Studies have since shown these measures significantly impacted education, with elementary school students falling behind in math by more than half a year and young children experiencing delays in developmental skills such as holding pencils.

Jennings emphasized the need to reform public health agencies to restore trust among Americans. “The doubts in the public regime in this country were not made up out of whole cloth. They are fully derivative of what happened to this country during COVID and the people, and the families and the businesses who were devastated by these mandates,” he said.

Host Abby Phillip argued that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric could endanger public health. While Kennedy has faced accusations of being anti-vaccine, a spokeswoman told The Washington Post that he does not oppose vaccines but has raised concerns about their safety.

Jennings acknowledged that Kennedy’s controversial statements about vaccines would pose challenges during his confirmation. “I’m also a supporter of vaccines, I believe vaccines work and I believe his skepticism of vaccines and some of the statements he has made are going to be the most problematic things for him in his nomination, but you cannot separate, he has raised real concerns that real people have,” Jennings said.

Kennedy, who has adopted the slogan “Make America Healthy Again,” has pledged to tackle chronic diseases and obesity, promote healthier diets, and restructure agencies like the FDA if confirmed as HHS Secretary.

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