‘You’re a charlatan’: Cantwell slams RFK Jr. for rejecting vaccine science
Sep. 4, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., questions Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his moves to dismantle vaccine policies at a Senate hearing... (Kayla Bartkowski / Bloomberg)
By
Shauna Sowersby
Seattle Times state politics reporter
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., accused U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of rejecting the science on vaccines as he faced fierce questioning Thursday in a Senate committee hearing where Kennedy tried to defend rolling back vaccine recommendations and firing Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Sir, you’re a charlatan. That’s what you are. You’re the one who conflates chronic disease with the need for vaccines,” Cantwell said as she showed a chart outlining the success of vaccines in curbing diseases since the last century. “The history on vaccines is very clear.”
Related Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing
Kennedy, who has a long record of of false and misleading claims about the efficacy and side effects of vaccines, pulled $500 million in federal funding last month for mRNA vaccine development aimed at respiratory viruses like COVID and the flu.
Senators on both sides of the aisle repeatedly accused Kennedy during the three-hour SenateFinance Committee hearing of sowing mistrust in lifesaving vaccines, purging top experts and ending research.
“I’m happy to have a detailed discussion with you about it. You are so wrong on your facts,” Kennedy told Cantwell, who used part of her time at the hearing to praise new state efforts to counter Kennedy’s new restrictions on COVID vaccines.
Governors in Washington, Oregon and California announced Wednesday the formation of the West Coast Health Alliance to uphold established vaccine guidelines, such as making shots available and accessible to all age groups.
“The governors of the West — Washington, Oregon and California — will take up the efficacy of science,” said the five-term senator. “The University of Washington will deliver the science that America will depend on, because you don’t want to depend on it.”
Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office said Thursday that Hawaii would join the West Coast states in their alliance. Northeastern states such as Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Connecticut are considering a similar response to federalvaccine policies.
Cantwell ended her questioning by asking Kennedy whether the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse who called on Congress Wednesday to release the investigative files were perpetuating a hoax, as has been alleged by President Donald Trump.
“I have no idea what they were saying,” Kennedy replied. “This is the first I’m hearing about it.”
“What I’m saying is you are perpetrating hoaxes,” said Cantwell, admonishing Kennedy for “undermining the whole health care delivery system.”
Washington’s senior senator, Democrat Patty Murray, on Thursday again called for Kennedy’s firing.
“This man is burning down our public health system from the inside,” Murray said from the Senate floor. “Our medical research, our public health, our pandemic preparedness, our food safety — RFK Jr. is putting all of that in jeopardy, and putting communities across this country in danger.”
Shauna Sowersby: 206-652-7619 or ssowersby@seattletimes.com. Shauna Sowersby is the state politics reporter for The Seattle Times. She covers the state Legislature, government agencies and the inner workings of state government from Olympia.
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