HEART-WRENCHING

Senator Fights Back Tears Going After RFK Jr. on Autism

Democrat Maggie Hasan shared a personal revelation while confronting the prospective health secretary.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan fought back tears as she confronted Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his unwillingness to completely disavow past statements pushing the scientifically-refuted claim that vaccines cause autism—making a striking personal revelation in the process.

The emotional moment came during the second day of Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearings, which have been dominated by questions about the Donald Trump cabinet pick’s history of controversial health statements—especially around vaccines.

In criticizing Kennedy, the New Hampshire Democrat shared her challenging experience as the mother of a child with a disability.

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“Some of you are new to this committee and new to the Senate, so you may not know that I am the proud mother of a 36-year-old young man with severe cerebral palsy,” she said. “And a day does not go by,” Hassan continued, pausing as she tried to keep her composure, “when I don’t think about what did I do when I was pregnant with him that might have caused the hydrocephalus that has so impacted his life.”

(Hydrocephalus, or a build-up of fluid in the brain, can cause cerebral palsy when it happens during pregnancy.)

Shifting the focus to Kennedy, a visibly emotional Hassan said, “So please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is.”

“Do you know how many friends I have whose children have autism?” she added, her voice cracking. “The problem with this witness’ response on the autism cause and the relationship to vaccines is that he’s re-litigating and churning settled science, so we can’t go forward and find out what the cause of autism is.”

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In response to an earlier question from Bernie Sanders, Kennedy had declined to say outright that vaccines do not cause autism.

Instead, he started to say, “I’m not going to go into HHS with any preordained—”

Sanders cut him off, saying: “That is a very troubling response.”

As Kennedy is one of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks, his confirmation by the Senate remains uncertain, with a vote soon to follow the hearings.

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Liam ArchackiNews Reporter

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