RFK Jr. roasted during brutal COVID-19 clash with CNN reporter

Even before he was United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. was never one to mince his words. Born into the infamous Kennedy family, it seems politics was always on the cards for RFK Jr., although he's climbed quite a way from being an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.

Having originally started as a Democrat, Kennedy then ran an independent campaign in the 2024 presidential election, and eventually withdrew while endorsing the Republican Party's Donald Trump for a second term.

Kennedy backed the right horse, and as the Secretary of Health, he's found himself part of Trump's inner circle. That's come with controversy of its own, and while Kennedy has been a figurehead in the 'Make American Healthy Again' initiative, he's been called out over his views on vaccines and measles, claims that AI will cure cancer, and repeated clashes about COVID-19.

While RFK has made a big deal about his healthy credentials, he's also raised eyebrows after he plunged into a creek said to be 'brimming' with fecal matter.

Six years after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt in 2020, it's back in the news as former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci is dragged in front of the Senate.

As well as complaints that the Republican Party is trying to distract from matters like the Epstein files, others have criticized it for wasting money, and some claim it's trying to make a scapegoat of Fauci.

This bubbled over in a heated interview between RFK Jr. and CNN’s Dana Bash as part of a "State of the Union" segment. After being something of a vaccination skeptic in the past, Kennedy repeatedly looked into the camera and implored U.S. citizens to get their kids vaccinated against measles.

Kennedy also said those who were critical of the Biden administration's handling of the pandemic were being censored and claimed constitutional rights had been violated. As Bash tried to move the conversation forward, an irate Kennedy snapped: "Of course you want to move on. Because you were part of the problem!”

When Bash defended herself, Kennedy continued: "There was absolute press malpractice. You weren’t allowing...your job is a furious skepticism toward authority. And you weren’t doing that. You were beating up on people who were dissenting.”

The CNN journalist doubled down after Kennedy accused her of 'attacking' him, adding: "I’m asking questions about how to prevent the next pandemic. But I also don’t want to use this interview to allow you to say things that aren’t entirely true.

“You’re talking about therapeutics, fine. It is also factually true that the Covid vaccine worked. The Covid vaccine prevented deaths. There is data upon data upon data."

Kennedy continued to maintain Bash was 'scaring' people because that's the job of CNN, while Bash linked the HHS head to the escalating measles situation as "one of the leading voices questioning vaccine efficacy."

When Kennedy again told Americans to vaccinate their kids, he slammed Bash for rolling her eyes.

It's here that things really imploded when she said, "I am because I don’t want to have you use our air to say this."

Kennedy sniped, "Yeah you know, you probably don’t understand this because you’re not a scientist," before Bash shot back saying: "Neither are you."

Bash ended the interview by saying, "My job is to try to get the best information out there," and in the aftermath, CNN has supported her stance.

In a statement shared by Politico, the network stood behind the 'veteran journalist' and reiterated: "Asking tough, substantive questions to those in power is the job of every journalist, and Dana did hers incredibly well today. We stand behind Dana, her reporting, and CNN’s overall coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The clip has gone viral, with many mocking Kennedy and applauding Bash for keeping her cool while also standing her ground.

That’s not to say Kennedy doesn’t have his supporters, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt being among those who retweeted support for him.