Hillary Clinton issued a dire warning about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his “crackpot ideas” on Wednesday.
Clinton warned on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe” that Kennedy’s health policies, including skepticism of vaccines, could cost the lives of Americans. She promoted her own Clinton Health Access Initiative on Wednesday, saying that her nonprofit organization is working to “fill the gap” when it comes to the nation’s healthcare.
“And one of the biggest concerns is what we are doing in our own country to put our own people’s health at risk, dismantling public health, listening to literally crackpot ideas about what’s happening. And somebody reminded me yesterday, you know, in 1800, the average life expectancy in this country was about 35. It got up to 47 in 1900. It is now 78,” she said.
“You know, when I hear people like, you know, Kennedy and others talking about, you know, getting back to a time when we aren’t vaccinating, we’re drinking raw milk, yes, and people didn’t live,” she said, likely a jab toward Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stances and promotion of drinking raw milk.
She then criticized Trump officials who want to “turn the clock back.”
“I mean, this is so crazy, it’s so wrongheaded, it’s so shortsighted, and it’s going to cause deaths. We just saw two children die from whooping cough. We saw the deaths from measles,” Clinton said.
“What is likely to happen because people are being confused when your president says something, when a Kennedy, who’s the secretary of HHS, says something, what are you supposed to believe? When you fire experts who’ve spent their entire life studying something that I want to know about, I have three grandchildren, I want to make sure they’re healthy, people are confused,” she added.
“And too many Americans are listening to this very destructive anti-science tirade that we’re hearing from this administration. And it’s going to cost lives. It already is costing lives,” she said.
Her comments come after President Donald Trump and Kennedy urged pregnant women on Monday to avoid taking Tylenol, or acetaminophen, due to unproven links to autism in children. Trump told pregnant women to “fight like hell” to avoid taking the drug.”
Many critics and health experts warned that Trump’s rhetoric may end up doing more harm than good. The president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Trump’s announcement is “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children.”
“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the unwieldy White House news conference, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries. He also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence.
The rambling announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, comes as the Make America Healthy Again movement has been pushing for answers on the causes of autism. The diverse coalition of supporters of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.includes several anti-vaccine activists who have long spread debunked claims that immunizations are responsible.
The announcement also sheds light on Trump’s own long-held fascination with autism and his trepidation about the childhood vaccine schedule, even as the president has taken pride in his work to disseminate COVID-19 vaccines during his first term.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.