The former White House coronavirus response coordinator said Sunday that she is looking forward to the Senate confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom President-elect Trump nominated to be his secretary of Health and Human Services, as a unique opportunity to have a transparent meeting. Debate about the health of Americans.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who served in the first Trump administration, appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” where she was asked at length about Kennedy potentially running the agency. and their opinions on health topics such as vaccines.
“That’s why when he talks about transparency, I’m actually excited that in a Senate hearing he’s going to present his facts and the questions that come up from senators are going to present their facts,” Birx said of Kennedy. “What I am sure of is that he is a very intelligent man who can provide his data and his evidence base.”
When Birx was asked about Kennedy’s previous controversial comments about vaccines, she said she had expressed concerns about issues that “many Americans believe are already a problem.”
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Dr. Deborah L. Birx served as the White House coronavirus response coordinator during the Trump administration from 2020 to 2021. (Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, File)
“Every mother sees a classroom of kindergartners where one of the children has autism,” she said. “That’s scary for moms and dads. They want to know why. So it’s not enough for us to say vaccines don’t cause autism. It’s about finding out what causes autism.”
Birx, who served under Trump from 2020 to 2021, said a Senate confirmation hearing would be a great forum to see data on both sides of the argument.
Trump tapped Kennedy to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“That hearing would be a way for Americans to really see the data that you’re talking about and that we can’t see that causality right now, but what’s causing it?” Birx said, adding that addressing the cause of autism in children will be “critical.”
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Birx said messaging from the White House about the COVID-19 vaccine didn’t help.
“I think what has confused people is that we weren’t clear about what the COVID vaccines do and don’t do,” he said. “And now people are wondering what my childhood vaccines do and don’t do. And they don’t understand that some of the vaccines their children receive protect them from both diseases and create herd immunity. And some of the medications they receive are only for their children, such as H Flu and pneumovax, to prevent their children from contracting very serious diseases.
“And we’re just not explaining all of this correctly,” he added of vaccines and what they do.
Regarding Kennedy’s possible appointment, Birx said there is something important Kennedy can do to help him succeed.
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“I think the most important thing is what team they would bring with them, because we’re really talking about a large-cap corporation with a very diverse group, which you really have to bring together and, frankly, eliminate some of the duplication between these agencies actually being more profitable.”
