Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News Digital he plans to meet with Senate Democrats, in addition to Republicans, as he looks to shore up support for confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in President-elect Trump's incoming administration.
Asked by Fox News Digital whether he would be meeting with Democrats on the Hill as well, Kennedy, a former Democrat himself, said, "Oh yeah."
However, the former independent presidential candidate didn't say which Senate Democrats he would meet.
"I don't know," he said when asked by reporters.
Kennedy kicked off his Capitol Hill meetings for his HHS bid on Monday, meeting with several Republicans. No Democratic senators were included in a list of dozens of lawmakers that he was set to meet with at the beginning of the week.
Last month, Trump announced Kennedy as his HHS pick. The two were initially running against each other in the 2024 election before Kennedy dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Kennedy's confirmation could face several obstacles, particularly when it comes to vaccines, agriculture and abortion.
He has been an outspoken skeptic of vaccinations, which some Republican and Democrat senators have pointed to as a concern.
Kennedy is also pro abortion rights and has supported abortion access throughout his life, which has left some Republicans with questions, as HHS has some authority over regulations that apply to abortion and those who provide them.
His critiques of the food industry and farming have given him some appeal with Democrats, but at the same time, Republicans representing agricultural states have stressed that they want to protect farmers and ranchers from certain burdensome policies and regulations.
It's unclear what exactly the coalition supporting Kennedy will look like in the Senate, whether he will have the support of all Republicans or if some Democrats will be needed to get him over the finish line.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell gave a stern warning to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after a report highlighted how one of Kennedy's associates had sought to rescind approval for a polio vaccine.
McConnell, a polio survivor, said in a statement that "efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous."
"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," he added, without naming Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who is President-elect Trump's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
McConnell's statement follows a New York Times report on Friday that highlighted how Kennedy's personal attorney, Aaron Siri, had represented clients in cases that sought to rescind approval for a version of the polio vaccine and others.
"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. 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," McConnell said.
"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. I have never flinched from confronting specious disinformation that threatens the advance of lifesaving medical progress, and I will not today.
The GOP leader was joined by his Democratic counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who demanded that RFK Jr. make his position on the polio vaccine clear.
"This would undoubtedly make America sick again," Schumer said, sharing the Times report on X. "It’s outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives. RFK Jr. must state his position on this."
Reached for comment, a Trump transition team spokesperson said, "Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied."
The Vice President Kamala Harris open border looked like an easy gateway to international love, but the Biden COVID vaccine mandates put up a wall.
Former NCAA swimmer and conservative activist Riley Gaines shared the story of her marriage with fellow former University of Kentucky swimmer Louis Barker, who is originally from England, in a recent TikTok.
Barker and Gaines were both swimmers while in college. Gaines joined the University of Kentucky's swim team and made the All-SEC freshman Team in 2019. She was also on the All-SEC Second Team in 2019 and 2020. Barker participated in the British Olympic Trials qualifier in 2016. Then in 2018, Barker participated in the 2018 Commonwealth Games Trials qualifier.
The two dated for two years, between 2019 and 2021. In December 2021, Barker proposed to Gaines, which she announced on social media. They were married in May 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Now, Gaines, who has spoken out against illegal immigration and Vice President Harris for her poor handling of the border crisis, shared that her and her husband have been dealing with immigration issues themselves in recent years. Gaines says Barker, despite coming into the country legally, has not been able to attain citizenship or even a green card yet, despite the fact that the couple has been married for two years.
"Maybe you think you think he's well on his way to the U.S. citizen, and you would be wrong. After two and a half years of marriage, he still doesn't have his green card," Gaines said.
Gaines says the couple received a letter in the mail. The reason Barker has not been granted citizenship is that he does not have the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Think about how hard our government has made it for people migrating into this country legally in comparison to those who break the law. Because if you just walk across the southern border, you're given housing, a driver's license, money."
Elon Musk reposed Gaines' TikTok video on X with a message advocating for legal immigration reform. Musk himself is also a legal immigrant from South Africa who has also spoken in favor of immigration reform in the U.S. Musk has also denied a Washington Post report that alleges the tech billionaire began his career working in the U.S. illegally.
"Legal immigration to America is ridiculously slow and difficult, even for super talented people. Needs to be fixed," Musk wrote.
Musk moved to Canada at 18 and got citizenship there via his mother and, a few years later, studied at the University of Pennsylvania.
U.S. immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of an immigrant visa. The COVID-19 vaccine was added to that list under the Biden-Harris administration.
Panel physicians who conduct medical examinations of immigrant visa applicants are required to verify that immigrant visa applicants have met the vaccination requirements, or that it is medically inappropriate for the visa applicant to receive one or more of the listed vaccinations.
However, none of this applies to people who sneak into the country illegally.
Gaines previously spoke out against illegal immigration in a social media spat with Mark Cuban.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released data to lawmakers in September revealing that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with sex offenses and homicide convictions have crossed the border into the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration, including 13,099 convicted of homicide and 15,811 of sexual assault, Gaines took aim at Cuban for suggesting Harris did a "good job" handling the border.
"We might have different standards for what qualifies as a 'good job,' but I don’t think the illegal entrance of 15,000+ rapists, 13,000+ murderers, and 320,000 missing children fits the bill," Gaines on X in response to Cuban.
Gaines' reference to the 320,000 missing children was from another report from the Department of Homeland Security released Aug. 21 that revealed the Biden-Harris administration had lost track of that number of migrant children who crossed the border without parents.
Meanwhile, ICE Boston announced on Wednesday the arrests of two illegal immigrants who have been charged with forcibly raping children in Massachusetts, as well as a third individual who was convicted of raping a child in Brazil, and was hiding in the U.S. after being caught and released at the U.S. border in 2022.
Discouraging Americans from being vaccinated is "very disturbing" and would result in "more severe illness and death in children," a top U.S. health official told lawmakers Tuesday following President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
National Institutes of Health Director Monica Bertagnolli made the comments after Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., told her that she’s concerned "there's been some talk by some who might have leadership positions in next administration of discouraging vaccination.
"Could you tell me what would be the downside if our children specifically were not vaccinated?" Frankel asked Bertagnolli.
"If you go back 100 years ago, the leading cause of death – and it was dramatic – was infectious disease. And why did that change? Vaccination, that is the single reason," Bertagnolli told the House Appropriations Committee.
"And it’s been even in my career, my lifetime that I have also seen individuals who unfortunately were in the womb when their mother got rubella – terrible congenital malformations that happened. So it’s not just the consequences even for the individual – it can be mother to child and then finally across society when we see the spread of infectious disease," Bertagnolli continued.
"What we will see immediately if all vaccination suddenly stops, we will see much more severe illness and death in children," she also said.
Kennedy rose to prominence as a skeptic of vaccines, voicing concerns about their impact.
"Look around the world because there are other places in the world that have this, that do not have widespread vaccination of their populations, and look at the tragedies that we see there. I think it would be very disturbing," Bertagnolli added Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., has called the choice of RFK Jr. to lead HHS "f------ insane."
"The RFK as Health Secretary appointment is f------ insane," he wrote on X. "He’s a vaccine denier and a tin foil hat conspiracy theorist. He will destroy our public health infrastructure and our vaccine distribution systems. This is going to cost lives."
Kennedy aligned with Trump after ending his own independent run for president, and Trump added the promise "make America healthy again" to his campaign.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
