CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was left visibly stunned on Thursday night when a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official flat out accused Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying during his testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.
Collins had invited Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a well-known infectious disease expert, to discuss the hearing where Kennedy repeated several false claims about vaccines. Those statements were so out of line that even some Republicans began calling for his removal.
Daskalakis didn’t mince words. He said Kennedy’s claims about what CDC researchers had done and his conversations with former CDC director Susan Monarez were not true. “The head of the health agency for the United States is actively standing before Congress and making things up,” he said. “He did not tell the truth.”
Collins quickly jumped in. “So, you’re saying he lied to Congress?”
“Yes, he lied to Congress,” Daskalakis replied. Collins could only respond with a surprised “Wow.”
One of the most direct points of contention was Kennedy’s claim that he had been briefed by the CDC’s immunization group. Daskalakis pushed back hard on that. “He was never briefed by anyone in the immunization group,” he said.
Collins pressed for more details, asking about Kennedy’s statement that William Thompson was among those briefing him. “You’re saying this person is not an expert on immunizations?” she asked.
Daskalakis clarified that Thompson was not part of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, the branch of the CDC responsible for vaccines, and that he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the center. “So, if he’s getting his information from that individual, I am not sure how that person could have briefed him on material that they have no handle on,” Daskalakis explained.
The back and forth underscored just how explosive Kennedy’s appearance before the Senate had been. Experts have said his testimony was riddled with false claims, but it was the blunt accusation from a former CDC insider, on live television, that turned heads.
By the end of the segment, Collins’s reaction mirrored what many viewers were likely feeling: disbelief that the nation’s top health official was accused of standing before Congress and simply making things up.