Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called out Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday, accusing the official of creating mass confusion and putting Americans’ lives at risk.
“One of the biggest concerns [I have] is what we are doing in our own country to put our own people’s health at risk — dismantling public health, listening to literally crackpot ideas about what’s happening,” Clinton told the hosts of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday. She went on to specifically condemn Kennedy for pushing anti-vaccination ideology and advocating for Americans to go back to consuming things like raw milk.
“In 1800, the average life expectancy in this country was about 35. It got up to 47 in 1900. It is now 78,” Clinton explained. “When I hear people like Kennedy and others talking about getting back to a time when we aren’t vaccinating, we’re drinking raw milk — yeah, and people didn’t live [then]! I mean, this is so crazy. It’s so wrongheaded. It’s so shortsighted, and it’s going to cause deaths.”
You can watch part of Clinton’s “Morning Joe” interview in the video below.
The former member of the Obama administration argued that Americans are already starting to see the negative consequences of Kennedy’s rhetoric and administrative decisions. “We just saw two children die from Whooping Cough. We saw the deaths from measles,” Clinton said, noting that she does not believe the answer is to blindly trust scientists and medical institutions.
“I think we have to test science. We have to do all kinds of trials. We have to hold our pharmaceutical companies to a high standard, all of which we have done starting in the 20th century [and] moving into this century,” Clinton remarked. “These guys want to literally turn the clock back.”
“I have three grandchildren. I want to make sure they’re healthy,” Clinton concluded. “People are confused, and too many Americans are listening to this very destructive, anti-science tirade that we’re hearing from this administration. It’s going to cost lives. It already is costing lives.”
