After Claiming He Wanted to ‘Do Something’ About Vaccine Injuries, Blumenthal Lashes Out at RFK Jr. for ‘Anti-Vax Agenda’

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) last week called on U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reject proposals that “weaponize state education funding” and “use it as leverage for anti-vaccination policies.”

At an Aug. 19 press conference in Hartford, Blumenthal criticized proposals he said Kennedy is considering that would penalize Connecticut “for having narrow exemptions to vaccine requirements.”

Blumenthal urged the public to “use vaccines, whether it’s measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria or polio.”

“Vaccines ought to be encouraged,” Blumenthal said. “Education funding should not be held hostage for the anti-vax agenda of a small minority in our population.”

According to News 12 Westchester, Blumenthal also sent Kennedy a letter urging him not to “weaponize” school funding. The Defender was unable to obtain a copy of the letter despite repeated requests to Blumenthal’s office.

However, in an Aug. 13 letter to Kennedy, in response to the recent shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Blumenthal urged Kennedy to immediately remove Dr. Robert W. Malone, a physician-scientist and biochemist known for his early contributions to mRNA vaccine technology, from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Malone was one of eight new members Kennedy appointed to ACIP — which advises the CDC on vaccine policy — in June. Two days earlier, Kennedy dismissed ACIP’s 17 previous members.

In that letter, Blumenthal said Kennedy’s actions “shredded” ACIP’s credibility and demanded that the committee members fired by Kennedy be rehired.