Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) position was “f‑‑‑ing insane.”
“He’s a vaccine denier and a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist,” Garcia wrote in a Thursday post on social platform X.
“He will destroy our public health infrastructure and our vaccine distribution systems. This is going to cost lives.”
Earlier in the day, he warned of the dangers Kennedy’s leadership could pose in a heated conversation with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) during a House hearing related to future pandemics.
During the session, which occurred before President-elect Trump’s announcement, Garcia criticized Trump’s potential selection of Kennedy, saying he has “no scientific or medical credentials, who’s falsely claimed for decades that vaccines cause autism.”
“If this committee is about pandemic prevention, we should be very concerned as a country that RFK Jr. could be put in charge of health when he is a vaccine denier and has caused great harm to the American public,” Garcia argued.
“I want to say just finally that I’m very concerned that someone that wants to gut the NIH, HHS, and other services could be put in charge of health of any kind in this country,” he said, referring to the National Institutes of Health.
Other Democrats have agreed with Garcia’s sentiments.
“Mr. Kennedy’s outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement. “When Mr. Kennedy comes before the Finance Committee, it’s going to be very clear what Americans stand to lose under Trump and Republicans in Congress.”
Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) claimed Kennedy would cause the nation to backslide in terms of “public health, reproductive rights, research and innovation, and so much else.”
Despite their dismay, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) praised Trump’s choice.
“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” Polis wrote in a post on X.
Although, he previously criticized Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric in August.