U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell accused U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of rejecting the science on vaccines as he faced fierce questioning Thursday in a Senate committee hearing where Kennedy tried to defend rolling back vaccine recommendations and firing CDC Director Susan Monarez.

“Sir, you’re a charlatan. That’s what you are. You’re the one who conflates chronic disease with the need for vaccines,” Cantwell said as she showed a chart outlining the success of vaccines in curbing diseases since the last century. “The history on vaccines is very clear.”

Kennedy, who has a long record of of false and misleading claims about the efficacy and side effects of vaccines, pulled $500 million in federal funding last month for mRNA vaccine development aimed at respiratory viruses like COVID

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