Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. erupted at CNN host Dana Bash on Sunday after she pressed him on how the Trump administration would prepare for the next pandemic.
Kennedy, 72, appeared on State of the Union and was asked what his department could do to prepare for another public health crisis.
“Forgive me, but you’re just talking about rights and I’m asking about a potential public health crisis that is coming,” Bash said after Kennedy launched into a lengthy defense of constitutional rights that he claimed were “dismantled” during COVID-19 lockdowns.
“I really want to move on,” Bash added as Kennedy repeatedly interrupted to continue his argument. That appeared to set him off.
“Of course you do, because you were part of the problem!” Kennedy shot back, pointing at the host.
“No, I wasn’t part of the problem,” Bash replied.
“Yes! There was absolute press malpractice,” Kennedy continued. “You weren’t allowing—”
As Bash tried to interject, he kept going: “Your job is fierce skepticism toward authority. And you weren’t doing that. You were beating up the people who were dissenting.”
By then, the two were talking over each other before Bash calmly asked: “Okay. Do you want to sit here and attack me, or do you want to have a conversation about public health?”
“You’re sitting here attacking me!” Kennedy fired back.
“I’m not attacking you. I’m asking questions about how to prevent the next pandemic,” Bash said.
“Well, ask a question and I’ll tell you,” Kennedy responded.
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Bash replied. “But I also don’t want to use this interview to allow you to say things that aren’t entirely true.”
The confrontation continued until Bash finally ended the interview, about 15 minutes after the exchange first went off the rails.
Tensions flared again when the conversation turned to measles, with Kennedy accusing Bash of “rolling her eyes” at him as he defended his claims about links between vaccines and autism.
“Do you want people to get the MMR vaccine?” Bash later asked.
“Yeah, I said that already,” Kennedy replied with a smirk before pointing at the host. “I know you’re flustered now, and it’s frustrating.”
Bash quickly pushed back.
“I’m not flustered at all. I am frustrated,” she said. “The reason I’m frustrated is because you are the HHS secretary and you are talking about things that lead to vaccine hesitancy in this country. And it is something that causes problems for people when there is not anything—”
Kennedy cut her off again.
“Let me ask you something,” he said. “Do you see your job as ending vaccine hesitancy, or do you see your job as telling the truth to the American people?”
Bash replied, “I see my job as telling the truth, and the truth is that there is study after study after study. It‘s one of the most studied things out there in science—"
“You’re repeating it like a parrot,” Kennedy snarled as he lunged forward over the table. “You‘re repeating it like a parrot. I’ve actually read the science.”
The conversation again devolved into raised, overlapping voices, before Bash proclaimed: “I’m not debating nonsense.”
“All you know how to do is repeat what people told you and say ‘trust in the experts,’” a red-faced, wildly gesticulating Kennedy replied, blaming trust in Fauci for poor public health.
After being told she had “no personal knowledge” on the matter, Bash clapped back: “Okay, well, guess what? That is my job, to talk to people.”
“Your job is to tell the truth,” Kennedy shouted, as Bash demanded, “Am I allowed to talk?”
