Cheryl Hines spent her time on one of the world’s most listened-to podcasts defending her husband’s innumerable controversies, insisting that he doesn’t want to “hurt” people.
The Curb Your Enthusiasm actress, 60, appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience Tuesday to discuss her marriage, politics, and the culture wars between America’s left and right factions. Much of the conversation between Hines and Rogan focused on her husband, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Hines, referring to him as “Bobby,” slammed criticisms of her husband.
“When people talk about Bobby and they want to paint him as somebody who is trying to hurt people,” Hines said, “It’s like look at his career and who he is and what he’s accomplished.”
Hines added that Kennedy, 72, has a history as an environmental activist, saying he ”spent a lot of time suing huge corporations because they were polluting waterways, which was hurting people, killing people, and giving people cancer."
“So why would he spend all of his life fighting for people, fighting for individuals, and then suddenly change and want to hurt people?” she told Rogan. “It doesn’t track.”
“I just did not expect politics to be such a part of my life,” Hines admitted. “I’m still shocked.” She also confessed to Rogan that she constantly worried about “Bobby’s safety” during his campaign for president and later, when he became a part of Trump’s proposed administration.
Hines has consistently defended her husband, telling Fox & Friends in December that he doesn’t require qualifications to be in his current position.
Hines also used Rogan’s platform to defend her husband’s notoriously anti-vaxx stance, saying people should be allowed to share their experiences about vaccines “in order to lead somewhere better.”
In September, Kennedy was grilled over his policies on vaccines and other controversial moves he oversaw at the Centers for Disease Control. During Kennedy’s testimony, several officials called out the Health Secretary for his dangerous views, with Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, saying, “You are a hazard to the health of the American people. I think you ought to resign.”
In early January, Kennedy spearheaded the CDC’s decision to drop the number of diseases children should be vaccinated against from 17 to 11.
Researchers at the University of Manchester found that, in his role as Health Secretary, Kennedy “reshaped” vaccine policy and public trust in vaccines in just a few months.
“Kennedy has shown both determination and ingenuity in undermining vaccine science, often through methods that are complex, obscure, or hard to explain publicly,” the researchers posited in August. “Without issuing a single ban, he has weakened the foundations of vaccine availability and trust in the U.S.”
