Posted on 01/31/2025 8:55:39 AM PST by Signalman
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has better odds than ever of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate after Wednesday’s committee hearing, a chance for Democrats to grill the Trump nominee that they instead squandered on misguided questions about his past stances, one CNN commentator stated.
A “big mistake” by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee may have cost them the opportunity to block Kennedy’s nomination to head Health and Human Services, a sprawling bureaucracy responsible for approximately a quarter of all federal spending. Rather than highlight their areas of agreement, far-left progressive icons Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) drove Kennedy into the GOP’s arms, Brad Todd said on Friday.
“I think RFK Jr.’s hearing to me was the most entertaining, but it was a big mistake by Democrats. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders made him more confirmable. There’s nobody who Republicans dislike more than Elizabeth Warren, and it’s for all the right reasons,” Todd, a Republican strategist, told a “CNN This Morning” panel. “But she should have gone with RFK and said, ‘You know, look, I agree with you on abortion. I agree with you on affirmative action. I agree with you on guns. In fact, I like you more than any nominee [President] Donald Trump ever has.’”
“If she wanted to sink him, she should have hugged him. But she doesn’t get that. She wants to make sound bites for the left,” he continued, the Daily Caller reported. “And I know that … this is all theater for her. I thought that made that hearing a circus. Entertaining, but it maybe has strengthened RFK.”
One day later, Kennedy made a perfunctory appearance before the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which did not need to hold a vote to send his nomination to the Senate floor but nonetheless afforded Republican members a chance to commiserate with the former Democrat after his public spats with Warren and Sanders.
Among them is Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician who is also a voting member of the Finance Committee and is widely believed to be the most skeptical of Kennedy. CNN anchor Kasie Hunt asked Todd if he thought the Louisiana Republican might still vote against Kennedy.
“It’s possible. I think there are probably 10 to 15 Republicans who have real qualms with RFK Jr. Most of them have qualms because of his ideology. He’s been a liberal Democrat for most of his career,” Todd answered. “He’s closer to Elizabeth Warren than he is to Bill Cassidy on ideological questions. I don’t know … he has a following. He was additive in the campaign. He brought voters to Donald Trump. People are trying to be respectful of that, but they do have qualms about him.”
On Thursday, Sen. Cassidy made it known that he was torn about whether to confirm Kennedy, given his past controversial statements about vaccines and the pharmaceutical industry.
“My responsibility is to learn, to try to understand if you can be trusted to support the best public health: A worthy movement called MAHA to improve the health of Americans, or to undermine it, always asking for more evidence and never accepting the evidence that is there,” Cassidy said. “That’s my dilemma, man. So you may be hearing from me over the weekend.”
51-49 prediction, he goes through.
You can't "admit" something that is a matter of opinion.
Agreed.
I am guessing he will get a few of Democrat votes.
If you can call lying about him a “mistake”.
Bernie Sanders sure was pissed off about “onesies”, those infant outfits, which apparently had some messaging on them?
Bernie knows what’s important.....sarcasm.....
“Sen. Cassidy made it known that he was torn about whether to confirm Kennedy, given his past controversial statements about vaccines and the pharmaceutical industry”
Interesting that Cassidy, a Republican, isn’t “torn” based on Kennedy’s stands on abortion, guns and affirmative action, but rather on vaccines and big pharma.
There must be two or three that haven’t been bought off by Pharma.
If Kennedy does not get in , I won’t be terribly upset. He is a Democrat after all. Kash Patel is definitely the one I want to see get in . I would have preferred Matt Gaetz, but apparently his nomination on Merrick Garland’s birthday was meant to send a message of things to come.
Doubtful. The democrats punish ex-democrats universality.
If I can only have one of the three, definitely I would go with Patel.
The good news is, if RFK Jr. and Tulsi don’t make it, it will make even more people leave the Democrats.
It will be a “pyrrhic victory” for them.
Bernie knows what’s important…. Checks from big pharma…
I think there are Democrats who want him in but they won’t vote for him . Same is true with Tulsi. The Democrats won’t vote for the most Trumpy picks
It sounds like Warren went with her wallet, so she must have known that she could not affect the outcome. The same is probably true of Sanders.
But I do not think the Dem’s have the saavy to attack RFK just to make him look good the GOP. Those tactics are more DJT’s style.
Democrats probably lost another 2% of their voters by going after “democrat friendly” Trump nominees, RFK and Tulsi.
Great comment.
He went from “who is that?” to ‘what a jerk!” for me. I then read his bio, Ex-Democrat who knew which way the wind was blowing in Louisiana.
Rand Paul debated and deflated his medical advice and concern troll-ism beautifully.
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