Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke the internet on Thursday after he called out socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to his face — highlighting the millions of dollars his campaign has taken from Big Pharma.
It was revealed soon after Kennedy’s first confirmation hearing that, coincidentally, all of the loudest Democrats attacking him during the hearing had taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Big Pharma and the healthcare industry. Those Democrats included Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The hostility @RobertKennedyJr experienced at his hearing was directly proportional to how much Pharma money each Senator received. In fact, each of them simply repeated the same attacks we just saw flood the mass media (all of which were blatant lies). 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ND7jqU4B1F
— A Midwestern Doctor (@MidwesternDoc) January 30, 2025
Sanders was arguably the most unhinged during Kennedy’s first confirmation hearing for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, screaming at Kennedy and demanding that he denounce baby “onesies” from Children’s Health Defense, an organization he founded but is no longer a part of, that said “Unvaxxed Unafraid.”
Alongside his Democrat colleagues, Sanders repeatedly attacked Kennedy for daring to be skeptical of the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare industry — prompting many on social media to immediately begin sharing information about Sanders’ campaign’s funding from the healthcare industry and pointing out that he was clearly trying to defend his donors.
On the second day of Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, it appears that he was ready for Sanders with these facts.
The argument began when the socialist senator began demanding his favorite policy — which will destroy the U.S. economy — guaranteed taxpayer-funded healthcare for all.
“If we want to make America healthy, will you assure the American people that you will fight to do what every other major country on Earth does [and] guarantee health care to every single American?” Sanders asked.
Kennedy didn’t fall for the question, instead vowing to “make America healthier than other countries of the world right now,” before being interrupted by Sanders.
“Will [you] guarantee do what every other major country does,” he asked. “That’s a simple question.”
Kennedy then began calling out Sanders and his colleagues, pointing out that the issue of corruption goes far beyond federal agencies and into Congress.
“And by the way, Bernie, the you know, the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agencies. It’s in Congress too. Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, including yourself, are accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protecting their interests,” Kennedy fired back, prompting applause from the room and sputtering outrage from Sanders.
The socialist senator immediately went into defensive mode, claiming that he had received “millions and millions” of contributions during his failed presidential campaign, but insisting that none of the contributions came from “executives.”
“Not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceutical industry. They came from workers,” Sanders claimed.
Kennedy refused to let him get away with his lies, firing back with the facts: “In 2020, you were the single largest receiver of pharmaceutical money.”
The argument only got more testy from there, with Sanders screaming: “Because I received from workers all over this country. Workers. Not a nickel from corporate PACs.”
“You’re the single largest accepter of pharmaceutical dollars,” Kennedy shot back, prompting Sanders to once again deny it, shouting, “Workers!”
“No. From workers in the industry,” Sanders added, waving his hand.
“1.5 million,” Kennedy noted, as Sanders again tried to defend himself by responding: “Yeah, out of 200 million.”
OMG Bernie Sanders has a meltdown after RFK Jr. BLASTS him for taking in millions of dollars in pharmaceutical money during his failed Presidental campaign🔥 pic.twitter.com/iWHbcozHrZ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 30, 2025