Trump's former surgeon general slams RFK Jr.'s bumbling of CDC shootings
Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general under President Donald Trump during his first administration, went on “Face the Nation” to say what everyone is thinking: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. could not have bungled the response to Friday’s shootings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worse if he had tried.
Adams slammed Kennedy for taking “over 18 hours to issue a tepid response to these horrific shootings,” which were carried out by an anti-vaccine conspiracist who opened fire on four buildings, killing a police officer and injuring another. All Kennedy could muster Friday night in the aftermath of the attack was to repost a social media statement from CDC Director Susan Monarez. On Saturday morning, Kennedy decided that his first order of business should be hopping over to his personal X account to post pictures of his fishing trip. Only after that did he post a mealy-mouthed, vague statement on his official X account.
Whether it was because Adams’ comments hit the news or because the CDC’s union called for “a clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation,” an agency spokesperson finally came forward on Monday—not to condemn anti-vaccine lies, but instead just say that Kennedy “unequivocally condemned the horrific attack” and that he was “fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of CDC employees.
Apparently, what that means in practice is HHS’s official X account giving CDC workers information on how to call 988, the suicide and crisis hotline. Big help there. However, they’d better not be experiencing too much of a crisis, because the workers aren’t being given any time off.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/8/11/2337829/-Trump-s-former-surgeon-general-slams-RFK-Jr-s-bumbling-of-CDC-shootings
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