The knives are out, and they’re all aimed at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a series of shake-ups have upended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a top vaccine recommendation committee.
For those who don’t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week’s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
On ABC News’ “This Week,” Kennedy was the focus of a roundtable discussion involving former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile, former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page.
Christie unloaded on Secretary Kennedy, calling him a “foolish man” and claimed that President Donald Trump had only selected him to prove that he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a foolish man, full of foolish and vapid ideas. And that was on display again this week in front of Congress,” Christie complained, referring to a Senate Finance Committee hearing that took place late in the week. “This wholly unqualified man [is] in charge of 25% of all government spending … the president’s smart enough to know, RFK Jr. doesn’t belong in that job. But after he won, he wanted to show everybody, ‘I can do whatever I want to do because this Senate will be compliant no matter what I do. And I’ll put the greatest vaccine and public health denier of the last 20 years in charge of public health in America.’ It’s a human middle finger to everybody who opposed him.”
🚨 JUST IN: Chris Christie goes BERSERK on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and warns RFK is a grave danger to American health.
“Robert F Kennedy Jr. is a foolish man, full of foolish and vapid ideas. And that was on display again this week in front of Congress.”
“This wholly unqualified… pic.twitter.com/eDi5xxHuAE
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 7, 2025
On CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan brought in physician and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) to discuss Kennedy, the recent committee hearing, and the fact that several prominent Republicans had been equally hard on the secretary.
Marshall defended Kennedy, however, explaining that he had brought in for a very specific purpose: to bring about change.
“Look, President Trump picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be a disrupter to the CDC, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s focused on making the CDC more transparent, to make it more trustworthy right now. Right now, Americans don’t trust the CDC. So, he is literally turning that place upside down,” Marshall said.
“I respect what my colleagues are saying. But this whole issue … in that meeting was about vaccines. In my humble opinion not every person needs every vaccine. And I don’t think there are many children out there who need 76 jabs by the time they’re old enough to vote,” Marshall continued, arguing that vaccines were wonderful things that had saved millions of lives but that they should be a choice rather than something that was forced on every child and every parent.
“But before you label me a non-vaxxer person, look, I’ve raised money for polio vaccinations. The MMR is a great vaccine, it’s saved thousands of lives. Vaccines, overall, have saved hundreds of millions of lives but not every person needs every vaccine and we just want to empower parents and the doctors to make great decisions,” he said.
“President Trump chose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. To be a disruptor to the CDC and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) says after Kennedy faced heated questions during testimony to Congress over CDC turmoil and his leadership of HHS.
“Right now, Americans… pic.twitter.com/oxPPK2RMHA
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) September 7, 2025
A newly-engaged Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) took things a step further when he joined host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Kennedy, he said, should immediately resign his post for failing to “protect Americans’ health.” But that was not enough for the New Jersey Democrat, who then claimed that Trump’s entire cabinet should follow suit.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says he believes HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as President Trump’s entire Cabinet, should step down for not “protecting Americans’ health.” https://t.co/qCLXC7iKxP pic.twitter.com/UYlYulx0h5
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 7, 2025
Kennedy himself gave some context in the aftermath of the contentious hearing, saying on Fox News’ “Big Weekend Show” that it was, in fact, his job to shake things up because that was the only way to restore trust in institutions like the CDC.
“My job is to FIRE the people who were responsible for masking our children with no science, for social distancing orders with no science,” he said.
RFK Jr: “My job is to FIRE the people who were responsible for masking our children with no science, for social distancing orders with no science.” pic.twitter.com/K3KAefMrSG
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) September 7, 2025
On “Fox & Friends: Weekend,” Kennedy explained why he’d had no choice but to fire the former CDC vaccine chief.
“We tried to get the vaccine safety data language — the data that supposedly the CDC tries to use to make good decisions on whether vaccines are hurting people and whether there are side effects. For seven months, he stonewalled us so that we could not get that data!” Kennedy said. “He’s also the individual that runs the VAERS system, which is the surveillance system for injuries that captures, according to CDC’s own study, fewer than 1% of vaccine injuries. This is malpractice.”
“These people are the people who ordered our children to walk around in masks. They’re the people who closed our schools. They’re the people who imposed social distancing with no science, shut down our businesses, and they need to go,” he added. “We need new blood, and we need new people who are committed to public health and integrity and gold standard science.”
🚨 BREAKING: Secretary RFK Jr. reveals that he fired the CDC vaccine chief because for 7 MONTHS Kennedy was BLOCKED from getting vaccine safety data.
This person also STONEWALLED money going to Texas to help with measles…he was a full-on TRAITOR, holy crap!
“I gave the order,… pic.twitter.com/dCWdKE2TZ7
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 7, 2025
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