‘Well, America – I Hope You Like Measles’: Jake Tapper Horrified By Trump Picking RFK Jr. To Lead HHS

TAPPER: “And, Adam — Congressman Kinzinger, your expectation is that they’re all going to get confirmed or you think that some Republicans might actually stand up?”

KINZINGER: “No, I’d actually be surprised if Gaetz gets confirmed. That’s why I was surprised he resigned the House because he’s not going to have anything to fall back on. But he’ll go be a Fox News commentator or something. So I do expect that there will be resistance to him. The rest of them, I don’t know, maybe RFK Jr. I mean, is there enough, you know, are there enough Senate Republicans left? Here’s the thing. A lot of the same Senate Republicans, particularly those that, like, voted to remove Donald Trump, they’re up for reelection this year. So now it becomes a whole different ball game. And, you know, will they resist RFK on vaccines? I don’t know. And — but I certainly think Gaetz probably has the toughest — the toughest hill to climb. Look, you know, the dude from Fox News, Pete Hegseth, he will probably be confirmed. He’ll go in there. He’ll realize that a $900 billion defense industry is different than running a platoon. And eventually, you know, he’ll probably carry out all of Trump’s worst instincts in the DoD that he wants and then resign for somebody that knows what they’re doing. I don’t know, but I don’t think there’s going to be any issue with Pete Hegseth getting confirmed.”

TAPPER: “Kate Bedingfield, is there anything Democrats can do?”

BEDINGFIELD: “I mean, they don’t have the numbers, but — so, practically, in the short run, no. But can they build an effective case? Can they sound the alarm where appropriate? Can they raise issues and concerns and help the American people see, you know, where they should, where — if these people are confirmed, they should direct their ire or blame as things unfold that people are maybe not happy with? You know, Democrats can do that and Democrats can start to lay out their own alternative positive vision. It’s never too soon to start doing that. So, you know, practically, can they do anything in the short-term? No, but you know, can they impact the narrative moving forward? I hope so.”

TAPPER: “Well, America, I hope you like measles. Thanks to all of you.”