"Real Time" host Bill Maher called Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "nutty" on Thursday following the Trump Cabinet member’s fiery Senate hearing.
"I personally find this very disappointing because I am the person who was sympathetic to what [Kennedy] was trying to do," Maher said to his panel. "I said, ‘Finally, we have a guy in there who cares about this stuff.’ But he’s also just nutty."
Kennedy is facing calls to resign from more than 1,000 current and former HHS employees. One week after he fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, the employees signed a letter Wednesday accusing Kennedy of appointing "political ideologues."
"He’s just too nutty," Maher repeated. "He just does not listen. I mean, he just is. And nothing ever – I call it pendulumism – nothing ever stops in the middle."
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"Real Time" host Bill Maher (right) called Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left) "nutty" and said "he's got to go" after his controversial Senate hearing. (Getty Images; HBO )
The late-night host elaborated on his charge against the politician.
He continued, "Okay, this needed a housecleaning, the CDC. But to fire all 17 of the top people? Now you don’t have that voice in there at all. You just have your voice."
Maher concluded his criticism with one sentence, adding it "pains" him to say it because he likes Kennedy.
"It’s just – he’s got to go," he stated.
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Bill Maher revealed that it "pains" him to criticize RFK Jr. because he likes him. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty)
One of the panelists, CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, went on to describe where Kennedy "stumbled a lot" as Republicans and Democrats questioned him on Capitol Hill.
"The CDC has canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine research that they were doing," Collins said. "And so that is what the Republicans were putting to him, saying, ‘Do you believe that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for this? And then do you also believe that was an mRNA vaccine that saved lives?’"
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This disconnect puts Kennedy "at odds" with Trump, Collins argued.
However, she added that he is about as "safe as he can get" in his job, unless President Donald Trump has a change of heart, as many Senate Republicans voted to confirm him as HHS secretary.
RFK Jr. has caught a lot of heat recently after firing 17 people from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the agency's director. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
Meanwhile, Collins’ fellow panelist and former Trump campaign economic advisor, Stephen Moore, defended Kennedy’s advocacy against certain FDA regulations.
"When new drugs are being developed, we should let these drugs go to the market, especially if they’re dealing with cancer or heart disease or multiple sclerosis," Moore argued. "The FDA holds these things up by five to 10 years, and it’s actually killing people."