Sullivan endorses anti-vaccine Kennedy to head health department
The first thing Sen. Dan Sullivan asked New Yorker Lee Zeldin, nominated to head the EPA, is if he would “commit to me to come up to Alaska with me, bring your family, we can do some fishing maybe after you see all the important elements of Alaska. Big mountains. No offense to Utah, but real big mountains. We have a little fun on state size in this committee.”
Sullivan, who will support all Trump nominees, always asks cabinet nominees to take junkets to Alaska. No real questions asked or answered.
And it doesn’t matter how unqualified Trump’s picks are.
As an example of the kind of information that the junior senator should be seeking, he could start with the 34-page exam created by Sen. Elizabeth Warren for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Here is Warren’s compilation of 175 questions that she asked Kennedy to be prepared to address.
There is a way that confirmation hearings can be turned into something other than a national joke. Kennedy will struggle to answer every question in Warren’s letter because he is not fit for the job.
Kennedy has spread anti-vaccine drivel for years. Before cutting a political deal with Trump, Kennedy’s entire campaign was based on lies that vaccines cause autism and are dangerous, lies about antidepressants, lies about cancer, lies about fluoride, lies about AIDS, lies about COVID and more.
Sullivan endorsed Kennedy in November immediately after Trump named him to head the Department of Health and Human Services, an immense agency that has a budget of nearly $2 trillion.
Asked by a Fox News host what he thought about Kennedy serving as the health department leader, Sullivan said RFK will bring dramatic change and Trump has a mandate for change, so RFK fits right in.
“Look, I think the American people voted for dramatic change,” Sullivan told Fox News two months ago.
“President Trump was really transparent, probably the most transparent candidate ever on the campaign trail, talking about what he wanted to do. And I think this nominee, some of the other nominees, are gonna bring us that change. And I think so far, I think it looks good,” Sullivan said.
It was on June 22 that the “most transparent candidate ever” called Kennedy a fraud.
“He’s a fake. He’s a total fake. You don’t wanna. He’s more liberal than Joe Biden and all of these Communists that work for him. Kennedy’s more liberal than all of them,” Trump said of Kennedy at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.
That all changed when Trump and Kennedy made their political arrangement.
Sullivan met with Kennedy December 18 and endorsed him a second time.
Sullivan said he was impressed with Kennedy’s “knowledge of Alaska, the Indian Health Service, and the issues surrounding rural health care.”
Sullivan did not say if he was also impressed by the threat to the health of Americans posed by Kennedy and the lies that he has told over the years.
The Washington Post compiled this top 10 list:
Falsely linked vaccines to autism.
Falsely called the coronavirus vaccine the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Promotes raw milk, stem cells and other controversial or debunked medical treatments.
Argues government employees have an interest in ‘mass poisoning’ the American public.
Falsely linked antidepressants to mass shootings.
Incorrectly suggests AIDS may not be caused by HIV.
Falsely argues children’s gender identity can be impacted by water.
Falsely touted ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as effective covid treatments.
Argued that covid-19 was ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.
Claims 5G high-speed wireless network is used to ‘control our behavior.’
In this excellent column published in the Anchorage Daily News, six Anchorage pediatricians and an Anchorage advanced practice registered nurse highlighted what needs to be done about Kennedy:
“Almost universally, health experts are concerned that he, his rhetoric and his proposed policies will contribute to lower vaccination rates and lead to disease outbreaks. Please contact Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and ask them not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary because of his long record of lying about vaccines. Protect our Alaskan children.”
That makes a lot more sense than inviting him on a fishing trip.
Here is how to contact Sullivan.
Here is how to contact Murkowski.
Your contributions help support independent analysis and political commentary by Alaska reporter and author Dermot Cole. Thank you for reading and for your support. Either click here to use PayPal or send checks to: Dermot Cole, Box 10673, Fairbanks, AK 99710-0673.