The “Morning Joe” panel slammed medical doctor and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy for dismissing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s supposed attempt to overhaul the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. immunization policies as people potentially trying to “make this something more than it is.”
“People are going to try and make this something more than it is,” Cassidy, who voted for Kennedy and is the current chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said in an interview Tuesday after being asked if he trusted Kennedy. At the time, he was also asked if he regrets voting for Kennedy, a known vaccine skeptic.
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“I’m not presupposing anyone is right or wrong,” Cassidy said in the clip, which “Morning Joe” played on Wednesday’s episode before they went in with comments. “I am saying we got to get to the truth because there are serious allegations and that will take radical transparency to quote the president. So I’m not presupposing someone’s right or wrong. I just know we’ve got to figure it out.”
Host Joe Scarborough blasted Cassidy for overlooking Trump and Kennedy’s actions and acting like he was on both sides of the line.
“He’s attacking 50, 60, 70 years of science because of your vote Bill Cassidy MD!” host Joe Scarborough said.
The MSNBC host also likened the HHS secretary’s actions to witchcraft while praising the positive effects the COVID vaccine had on ending the pandemic.
“One of the great scientific achievements over the past 50 years, saved tens of millions of lives, reopened economies across the globe,” Scarborough said of the vaccine and its impact. “He knows, he’s got an HHS secretary that’s basically engaging in witchcraft. And you have Bill Cassidy going, ‘Well, I don’t know who. I’m not saying anybody’s right. I’m not saying anybody’s wrong.’”
He continued: “He’s a doctor and he knows he’s lying to the camera. He’s starting straight into the camera and he knows he’s lying because he knows that RFK Jr. is wrong. But maybe he’s scared of his voters instead of scared for the children who are going to suffer because of this guy.”
Cassidy’s remarks come as the president called on pharmaceutical companies to “justify the success” of the COVID vaccine days after the FDA implemented new rules for them. Per NPR, the agency is now only allowing updated shots for those who are at risk for serious complications or health issues due to their age of being 65 or older. On Aug. 27, Trump fired CDC director Susan Monarez hours after she refused to resign from her position.
Host Willie Geist said this all comes down to Cassidy’s fear of Trump.
“You see fear in that clip. You see fear of Donald Trump. You see fear of Donald Trump supporters,” Geist explained from his perspective. “[Cassidy] is a real doctor and a good doctor, and he clearly knows better. And he still, knowing everything he knew about RFK Jr., voted for him. He’s still trying to have it both ways as he talks about it.”
A day after Kennedy penned an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal titled “Restoring public trust in the CDC,” more than 1,000 current and former HHS staffers called on Kennedy to resign for “compromising the health of this nation” in a joint letter titled “It’s Time for Robert F. Kennedy to Resign.”
“We swore an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution and to serve the American people. Our oath requires us to speak out when the Constitution is violated and the American people are put at risk,” the letter reads, in part. “Thus, we warn the President, Congress and the Public that Secretary Kennedy’s actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy’s resignation.”
You can watch the full “Morning Joe” clip in the video above.
The post ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts Take Aim at Sen. Bill Cassidy for Siding With RFK Jr. on CDC Changes: ‘He’s a Doctor and He’s Lying’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
