Sen. Raphael Warnock Confronts RFK Jr. Over Past CDC ‘Nazi Death Camp’ Remarks in Heated Exchange

Washington, D.C. – Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) pressed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday over past inflammatory remarks he made about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), questioning whether he still stood by those statements as he seeks confirmation as the nation’s top health official.

Kennedy, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, faced scrutiny from Warnock during his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing. The Georgia senator specifically challenged him on past comments where he appeared to compare the CDC to Nazi death camps and likened its vaccine policies to the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse scandals.

“You have compared the CDC’s work to Nazi death camps, you’ve compared it to sexual abusers in the Catholic Church,” Warnock stated. “You’ve also said that many of them belong – this is a direct quote – many of them belong in jail. For me, those are disturbing characterizations of the CDC workers that I know who are trying to keep the American public safe every single day, and as you are presented as the nominee for this position, I need to know, do you stand by those statements that you made in the past, or do you retract those previous statements?”

Kennedy denied ever making such comparisons and insisted that he supports the work of the CDC. “My job is not to dismantle or harm the CDC,” Kennedy responded. “My job is to empower the scientists if I’m privileged to be confirmed.” Warnock pressed him again, asking whether he would retract those remarks, but Kennedy maintained that he had never made them.

“Well, actually, I have a transcript!” Warnock countered as Kennedy appeared surprised. “Of me saying that it’s a Nazi death camp?” Kennedy asked, appearing skeptical. Warnock proceeded to read from the transcript of Kennedy’s remarks at the 2019 AutismOne conference, where he addressed a private audience of parents of autistic children.

“It says that ‘the institution, CDC and the vaccine program,’ is your description of their work, ‘is more important than the children that it’s supposed to protect,'” Warnock read aloud.

He continued, quoting Kennedy: “You know, ‘it’s the same reason we had a pedophile scandal in the Catholic Church,’ because people were able to convince themselves that the institution, the church, was more important than these little boys and girls who were being raped.”

Warnock then referenced another statement from Kennedy: “‘To me, this is like a Nazi death camp.’ Let me finish, I’m just reading your words.” Kennedy once again denied making a direct comparison between the CDC and Nazi death camps but attempted to clarify his remarks.

“I was comparing the injury rate to our children to other atrocities,” Kennedy explained. “And I wouldn’t compare them, of course, the CDC to Nazi death camps, to any extent, to the extent that any statement that I made has been interpreted that way.”

The exchange underscored the growing scrutiny over Kennedy’s nomination, as critics question whether his past statements disqualify him from leading the nation’s top health agency. The hearing’s tense moments highlight the significant opposition Kennedy faces from Democrats and public health experts as his confirmation process moves forward.