Trump pick RFK Jnr one step closer to top US health job after close Senate panel vote

Asia World

US President Donald Trump’s embattled health secretary pick, vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jnr, squeaked through a crucial vote in his confirmation bid on Tuesday as senators advanced his nomination to the floor.

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With Republicans having a one-seat advantage on the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy’s future hinged on Bill Cassidy, a doctor who has clashed with the former Democrat over unfounded claims linking vaccines to autism.

But Cassidy backed Kennedy after the 71-year-old environmental lawyer was given a vote of confidence from Trump, who urged support for the man whom just nine months ago he was calling “one of the most Liberal Lunatics ever to run for office”.

“20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!!” Trump posted on his website, Truth Social, ahead of the vote.

Cassidy is a rare occasional rebel in the Republican ranks but he faces re-election next year in Louisiana and risked picking up a challenger from the Republican Party’s Trumpist far-right if he upset the US president.

RFK Jnr supporters pose at the US Senate on Capitol Hill in on Thursday. Photo: AFP
RFK Jnr supporters pose at the US Senate on Capitol Hill in on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Kennedy’s various controversies are too numerous to itemise but the headline concerns for conservatives are his past support for abortion, his record suing big business as an environmental lawyer and his 2023 run for president as a Democrat.