Democrats are jumping into the fray to voice their disapproval about Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the broader debate of rolling back vaccines, which was announced in Florida this past week.
But after the public pushback on COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines on the heels of the pandemic, some voices in the Democratic Party are urging restraint, even as public opinion leans toward them and Republicans show their own divisions.
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced this past week that the state would move to end all vaccine mandates, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) expressed concern about the decision.
A day later, some Republicans were posing tough questions to Kennedy, the nation’s best known vaccine skeptic, during a contentious hearing that followed high-profile resignations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some Democrats say the party is best off letting Republicans tussle on the issue, without getting in the way.
“Republicans spent a long time playing footsie with and entertaining fringe opinions on public health,” Democratic strategist Joel Payne said. “But now they have gone way over the top and have put those opinions in power, and I would anticipate a political price they’ll have to pay for that.”
When Kennedy testified at the Senate Finance Committee hearing, Democrats predictably asked him tough questions. But Kennedy was also on the receiving end of pointed remarks from GOP senators.
“I support vaccines. I’m a doctor. Vaccines work,” Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (Wy.), an orthopedic surgeon, told Kennedy at Thursday’s hearing. “Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines.
“Since then I’ve grown deeply concerned.”
To be sure, Democrats aren’t shying away from a public battle with Kennedy over his stewardship of the nation’s top federal agency on health care.
And in some cases they’re leaning into it, aware of public sentiment on the issue. Some see it as a rare spot since November’s election where they can clearly go on offense.
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee ahead of last week’s hearing called for Kennedy’s resignation, saying in a statement that he has “failed to protect the health of the American people and endangers the lives of all Americans.”
Their treatment of Kennedy was also tough once the hearing began.
“This is not a podcast. It is the American people’s health that’s on the line,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said at one point, criticizing Kennedy’s management of the CDC.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) called Kennedy a “charlatan,” while Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) asked: “How can you be that ignorant?”
Democratic strategists said the party needs to make sure any battle over vaccines is framed in the way the party wants it to be.
“I’ve seen some polling show that one of the weaknesses for Republicans is that voters see them as more extreme and so with that in mind, I think we have to retake the mantle of common sense,” one party strategist said. “Democrats need to be seen as problem solvers.”
The strategist said Democrats need to make sure the political battle is about common sense and safety and not framed as a fight over “freedom.”
“And I do think they have to be careful as to not frame vaccines as a ‘freedom thing,’” the strategist said, speaking of Democrats.
Republicans “use that word for a reason,” the strategist added. “There’s a reason they’re calling it ‘vaccine freedom.’ They’re using it in the same way Democrats talk about choice. It’s a smart word and it appeals to their base.”
The strategist added that “there’s a risk of overplaying vaccines if we use that as a central argument.”
“And we’re not winning the 2026 midterms on a referendum on vaccines,” the strategist added.
Another operative added that “all Democrats should do is get out of the way.”
Before Thursday’s hearing, NBC News obtained a copy of an Aug. 26 memo detailing poll results that showed a majority of President Trump’s voters support vaccines.
The survey conducted by Republican pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward showed that “there is broad unity across party lines supporting vaccines such as measles (MMR), shingles, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDAP), and Hepatitis B.”
Fabrizio and Ward unearthed their findings during a meeting with Republican lawmakers Wednesday, NBC reported. Several aides for senators on the Senate Finance Committee were also in attendance.
A separate poll by CBS News this past week showed that Americans said they think vaccines should be made more available even as those surveyed said Kennedy was making them less available.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump appeared to advocate for vaccinations, while saying, “I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated.”
“You have some vaccines that are so amazing. The polio vaccine I think is amazing,” Trump said. “A lot of people think that COVID [vaccine] is amazing.”
“You have vaccines that work; just pure and simple, they work,” he said. “They’re not controversial at all. And I think those vaccines should be used otherwise people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people. And when you don’t have controversy at all, I think people should take them.”
Democratic strategist Eddie Vale, pointing to Trump’s remarks, said it’s obvious Republicans will lose this fight.
“Unlike some recent fights, this is a clear case where Republicans are going to find themselves on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue from following a bunch of extreme lunatics,” Vale said. “And they’re going to see the backlash from parents and families who don’t want their kids to start getting diseases that were supposed to be eliminated.”
Vale said Thursday’s hearing with Kennedy was “the perfect way” for Democrats “to take back the high ground on this fight.”
He said Democrats should “pounce like an angry mama bear who doesn’t want their kids to die from measles because a guy with a brainwork who loves tanning and steroids took away their vaccine.”
