Outgoing Senate Minority Leader and polio survivor Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a stern warning Friday to incoming members of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration who may seek to revoke federal approval of the polio vaccine.
McConnell did not mention Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., by name – but his statement on “dangerous” efforts to roll back immunizations against the viral disease was clearly aimed at the scion of the Democratic political dynasty.
“The polio vaccine has 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,” McConnell said.
“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,” the senator warned.
McConnell’s statement comes after the New York Times reported that Aaron Siri – an attorney who worked on Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and is helping him select federal health officials for the incoming administration – petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to get rid of its approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.
Siri has also filed more than a dozen lawsuits to halt vaccine distribution and helped eliminate some mandates for the COVID-19 jab, according to the outlet.
The lawyer explained to the Times that the petitions were filed on behalf of his clients and he claimed that he doesn’t want Americans barred from being immunized.
A spokeswoman for Kennedy Jr. noted that Trump’s HHS pick “has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice.”
McConnell, who is stepping down as the top Republican in the Senate next year, contracted polio at the age of two and suffers from paralysis in his upper left leg as a result of the disease.
“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,” the senator’s statement continued. “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 added.
“I have never flinched from confronting specious disinformation that threatens the advance of lifesaving medical progress, and I will not today.”
Kennedy Jr. is expected to meet with senators on Capitol Hill next week as part of his effort to get confirmed for the HHS post.
It would only take four Republicans joining every Democrat and independent to tank his confirmation.
