‘This is why people distrust government’: Rand Paul backs RFK Jr, slams lawmakers over ‘dumbed-down’ vaccine debate

Paul defended Kennedy, who was getting grilled by other senators on the panel. He stated, "Discussion over vaccines is so oversimplified and dumbed down that we never really get to real truths, and it's why people up here are so separated from real people at home."

In a post following his words in the hearing, Paul said that he will be voting in favor of Kennedy.

Paul focused in on the Hepatitis B vaccine as an example, as the disease is usually received through sex or used needles, but questioned why infants are vaccinated for it when they are born. "But the reason you have distrust from people at home, why they don't believe anything you say, they don't believe government at all, is you're telling my kid to take a hepatitis B vaccine when he's one day old," Paul said.

The Kentucky senator also talked about the Covid-19 vaccine, saying that data showed younger, healthy children were not very vulnerable to the disease, yet many government officials at the time wanted even infants to get vaccinated for Covid-19.

"I’m pro-vaccine, but I’m not a one-size-fits-all person,” he emphasized. “I chose to wait on my hepatitis B vaccine, and we did it when they went to school. Does that make me an awful person?”

Paul said that Kennedy, in the hearing, was bringing up nuanced points about health, but he was continually shut down, "These are the nuances you're unwilling to talk about, because there's such a belief in submission, submit to the government. Do what you're told. There is no discussion."

"There ought to be a debate. You're not going to let him have the debate, because you're just going to criticize him and say, 'It is this and admit to it, or we're not going to appoint you.' But it's more complicated than that, and this is why people distrust government."

Kennedy has previously taken positions against some vaccines as well as suggested that vaccines are linked to autism. Both points were brought up in the hearing by a number of lawmakers who may oppose Kennedy's nomination. In the hearing on Thursday, he said he is not anti-vaccine, but pro-safety and wants to look over studies surrounding their impacts.