(Philadelphia, PA) — Following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s House and Senate hearings over the past week, 314 Action President Shaughnessy joined Jim Lokay of Fox 5 DC to discuss RFK Jr.’s disastrous responses and dangerous tenure at the helm of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Key quotes:
Shaughnessy Naughton, President of 314 Action:
On measles:
“It’s really tragic, because the effects of measles can last well past the fever and even the hospitalization that can happen during the onset of the disease. I mean, there was an op-ed in the New York Times by a mother yesterday talking about how her daughter died 10 years later from the effects of measles.
“And this is just a real tragedy, and I think it’s almost a result of the success of vaccination that people don’t remember how devastating it was for children, especially before we had these vaccines—and that we’re just walking away from it, or encouraging or people to walk away from vaccinating their children is a real failure on the part of this administration, and especially on Secretary Kennedy.”
On the importance of electing scientists to office:
“We absolutely need doctors and scientists at the governing table, making those decisions and putting together a future that really embraces science and technology. That’s how we led the world in the last 100 years.”
“You know, we just had this amazing, maybe unifying moment in America with Artemis and watching our astronauts circle the moon. That happened because generations of Americans wanted to invest in our NASA program, and right now the administration is proposing devastating cuts to NASA. Why would we do that? When that is exactly what we need to lead in the future.
“It’s why we think it’s so important to elect scientists to public office—and this year, we have a record number of scientists running for Congress.”
On trust in doctors and scientists:
“What we’ve seen over and over again is that there’s more skepticism for HHS and CDC under Secretary Kennedy—because of Secretary Kennedy.
“But we see over and over again in our polling and in Pew’s polling is that scientists and doctors are among the most trusted professions, and people especially trust their own doctor.”
###
314 Action is the only national organization working to elect Democrats with backgrounds in science and medicine across all levels of government—from the Senate down to local school boards. The organization is powered by a grassroots community of over six million people supporting scientists, doctors, and STEM professionals who will use science and facts to address our most pressing issues like climate change and health care.