McConnell Warns RFK Jr. To ‘Steer Clear’ Of ‘Dangerous’ Polio Vaccine Skeptics

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appeared to warn President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., this week over a lawyer who is helping him select federal health officials for the incoming administration.

The warning from McConnell comes just weeks before Kennedy will undergo confirmation hearings in which he will have to win over the support of U.S. senators to lead the department.

Aaron Siri, the lawyer helping Kennedy, petitioned the federal government in 2022 to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, The New York Times reported.

McConnell, a polio survivor, made the warning over the polio vaccine after the report was published but did not mention Kennedy by name.

“Like millions of families before them, my parents knew the pain and fear of watching their child struggle with the life-altering diagnosis of polio,” McConnell said. “From the age of two, normal life without paralysis was only possible for me because of the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love. But for millions who came after me, the real miracle was the saving power of the polio vaccine.”

“For decades, I have been proud to work with devoted advocates – from Rotary International to the Gates Foundation – and use my platform in public life to champion the pursuit of cures for further generations,” he continued. “I have never flinched from confronting specious disinformation that threatens the advance of lifesaving medical progress, and I will not today.”

The 82-year-old senator said that the polio vaccine saved “millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease.”

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous,” he concluded. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

Mitch McConnell, polio survivor, warns RFK Jr. on the polio vaccine — without mentioning his name.

Full Statement from Leader McConnell:

“Like millions of families before them, my parents knew the pain and fear of watching their child struggle with the life-altering diagnosis…

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 13, 2024