Hillary Clinton slammed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump on national television Wednesday (September 24), accusing the pair of pushing “crackpot ideas” about vaccines and pregnancy medications that she says will “cause deaths.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the former Secretary of State tore into the administration’s recent health guidance and Kennedy’s controversial vaccine record, warning that the rhetoric coming from the White House is putting lives at risk.
“I mean, this is so crazy, it’s so wrongheaded, it’s so shortsighted. And it’s going to cause deaths,” Clinton said. “These guys want to literally turn the clock back.”
Her remarks followed a Monday (September 22) press conference where Kennedy, now Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Trump floated unproven claims about widely used medications.
Trump, during a White House briefing, suggested that Tylenol use during pregnancy could be linked to autism in children. The administration then issued guidance advising pregnant women to avoid the drug, despite no conclusive scientific evidence supporting that claim.
“When your president says something, when a Kennedy, who’s the secretary of HHS, says something, what are you supposed to believe?” Clinton asked. “You know, people are confused. And too many Americans are listening to this, you know, very destructive anti-science tirade that we’re hearing from this administration. And it’s going to cost lives. It already is costing lives.”
Health Organizations Condemn Donald Trump & RFK’s Health Claims
Kennedy has long faced scrutiny for his vaccine skepticism. Since taking office, his advisory panel has recommended against the use of a combined measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox vaccine for children, a decision that has drawn backlash from public health professionals.
Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly amplified debunked theories linking vaccines to autism, despite overwhelming scientific consensus to the contrary.
Major medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Autism Science Foundation, swiftly condemned the administration’s Tylenol warning, calling the research “limited” and “inconsistent” with no proven causal link.
The White House fired back at Clinton through spokesman Kush Desai, who said her criticism reflects “open contempt and condescension towards everyday Americans” and claimed it’s “exactly why she so devastatingly lost in 2016 to President Trump and why she’s no longer relevant.”
Clinton’s comments arrive amid growing concern among health experts about declining vaccination rates and the potential long-term consequences of the administration’s messaging.