Fact check: RFK Jrs statements during Senate confirmation hearing | Health News [Video]

During the first round of his Senate confirmation hearings on Wednesday, Robert F Kennedy Jr, President Donald Trump’s pick for US Department of Health and Human Services secretary, appeared to be at odds with his past self.

Legislators on the Senate Finance Committee grilled Kennedy on his past positions and comments on topics ranging from abortion to vaccines to school shootings.

Kennedy, appearing astonished at times, consistently downplayed and denied controversial things he has said previously in podcasts, conferences or TV interviews, even though the senators quoted him directly.

On several occasions, legislators asked Kennedy to square his past health positions with his potential HHS role. Each time, he said his remarks were being mischaracterised or that he’d never made such statements.

Here are six examples:

1. Kennedy’s rebuttal of claims that he is ‘antivaccine’ ignores years of activism

Describing Kennedy’s appearance on a 2023 podcast, Senator Ron Wyden said Kennedy had questioned vaccine safetyand had said: “No …