Former governor, HHS secretary Thompson on RFK Jr. appointment: 'Give him a chance'

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Nearly 20 years after he stopped serving at the nation's top health official, Tommy Thompson on Friday said he supports President-elect Donald Trump's appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to serve as the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Thompson, who stepped down during his fourth term as Wisconsin governor to serve as HHS secretary during former President George W. Bush's first term, said he believed senators and the public should both approach Kennedy's confirmation process with an open mind.

"Give him a chance," Thompson said. "Before you start criticizing and tearing down and saying it's gonna be terrible, let's see what he really means. Let's see what he's really gonna do."

Kennedy has received bipartisan criticism over a litany of comments he's made that were skeptical of vaccines, even promoting debunked claims of vaccines causing autism in children.

While there have been documented vaccine injuries, the overwhelmingly majority of research finds such instances are very rare, and the benefits of widespread inoculation against contagious disease far outweigh any risks.

Thompson said he did not see Kennedy as anti-vaccine and added he believed the public should also focus on his interest in regulating additives in processed foods, as well as placing more scrutiny on pharmaceutical companies.

"When I was there, I was concerned about obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer's," Thompson said. "Still big problems today and Robert [F.] Kennedy Jr. is willing to take those on."

Kennedy has said in recent days and during his unsuccessful presidential campaign he is not opposed to public vaccination efforts. However, he said on a 2023 podcast, "There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective." Kennedy told a podcaster in 2021 he tells people on hiking not to get their child vaccinated if they have a baby with them.

Kennedy was recorded by the New York Post in 2023 suggested COVID-19 could have been designed to target certain races.

"COVID-19, there's an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately," Kennedy said. "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. We don't know if it was deliberately targeted or not."

Thompson, who led the University of Wisconsin System through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, said he did not believe Kennedy's words harmed efforts to slow the disease's spread and minimize its effects through vaccination.

"I'm not sure that Robert [F.] Kennedy has ever said that the COVID vaccine was wrong," Thompson said. "I may be proven incorrect on that, but I think what he said, 'Let's make darn sure that all vaccines are scientifically based and good for the American public.'"

Others within the UW's medical community feel differently about Kennedy's appointment. Dr. Bill Hartman, a professor of anesthesiology at UW-Madison and a lead investigator on the university's efforts to develop plasma and monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19, harshly criticized Kennedy's appoint in a post on the social media site, X.

"I believe in science, I believe in vaccines. I believe in keeping my family and community safe," Hartman wrote. "With none of those credentials, and armed with misinformation and debunked theories, @RobertKennedyJr has been given a seat at the table to decide what is best for public health."

Hartman did not respond to a request for an interview Friday. Thompson said Hartman's post did not give him any pause about Kennedy's appointment.

"No, it doesn't," Thompson said. "Because what we also said is, 'Let's see how it goes, and let's make sure that the medicines and the vaccines that we are producing are safe and healthy for the American public.' I think that's fair. I think it's the right approach."