President Donald Trump over the weekend praised Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as an increasing number of Democrats call on him to resign or for the president to fire him.
“He’s a different kind of a guy. He’s got a lot of good ideas, but he’s got a lot of ideas. Normally, they don’t have any ideas, and that’s why we have problems with autism and so many other things. Because we’re coming up with the answers for autism.
“We’re coming up with the answers for other things that normal people—regular people, easy-to-get-along-with people—wouldn’t be able to do.”
Kennedy said earlier this year that health officials would be working to determine the causes of autism, the rate of which has shot up in the United States in recent years. Trump has said he supports the effort.
Kennedy, while overseeing divisions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has also had recommendations for COVID-19 limited, precipitated the termination of the CDC’s director, and removed every member from the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel.
Kennedy faced criticism on Sept. 5 from senators during a hearing in Washington, including several GOP lawmakers.
By discarding well-established science related to vaccines, elevating conspiracy theorists and self-interested charlatans to positions of public trust, and presiding over the largest cut to American health care in history, Robert Kennedy has reinforced every fear families had about him,” they said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is among the other lawmakers who have recently called on Trump to terminate Kennedy.
Kennedy during the hearing defended his moves as necessary to reestablish trust in health agencies and pointed out that some of the senators have received contributions from pharmaceutical companies or groups.
Trump that day defended Kennedy, who is known as RFK Jr.
