After Purging Key Vaccine Panel, RFK Jr. Moves to Assert Control

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to Fox News to do what he does best: spread wildly incendiary misinformation about vaccines and public health.

RFK Jr. was asked about his decision to fire the entire vaccine advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a move that directly contradicted a confirmation process promise and set off alarms for experts.

“Ninety-seven percent of the people on the committee had conflicts of interest. This is a committee that has … we’ve gone up from 11 vaccines in 1986. Today, children get between 69 and 92 vaccines before they’re 18. Not one of those vaccines—”

“That’s really high,” Fox News’s Martha MacCallum said. “Those are not all mandatory.”

“Those are all mandatory, and the reason there’s 69 to 92 is some of the brands require three doses, some of them require four. But none of them have been safety tested. Except for the Covid vaccine, the only vaccine on the schedule that has gone through placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure was the Covid vaccine, so nobody has any idea what the risk profiles are on these products. And we don’t know whether they have anything to do with the epidemic of chronic disease, almost all the chronic disease.… These are products designed to deregulate your immune system, change your immune system for life. And we are now having an epidemic of immune dysregulation in our country, and we don’t have an idea … we’re gonna investigate.”

Kennedy Jr. is exaggerating about the number of vaccines before 18, which is closer to between 24 and 50. And many medical professionals have already stated their opposition to this placebo-controlled testing.

“The first vaccine for a disease is already proven safe through a placebo-controlled trial,” Senator Bill Cassidy—who was recently betrayed by Kennedy— told The Washington Post. “Updating that vaccine does not require a new placebo-controlled trial to determine its safety. To require a placebo group would deny those patients access to the vaccine that has already been found safe.”

There’s also the fact that this kind of testing would be intentionally deceptive to patients. “Ethics must be taken into account when you set up a study,” physician Stanley Plotkin said. “Can I ethically agree to having people acquire the disease because they receive a placebo?” We should expect more delusional, crank-adjacent theories from perhaps our most important public sector.

Reactions are rolling in after Senator Alex Padilla was kicked out of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday. 

The California Democrat was dragged out of the room  by DHS officers as he tried to raise a question about ICE’s presence in his home state at the press conference.

“I am Senator Alex Padilla,” he yelled as two agents grabbed him. Padilla was then forced out of a pair of double doors and was heard shouting, “Hands off!” Padilla was then forced face down on the ground and handcuffed by three FBI agents.

The right is framing Padilla as a violent stranger who “lunged” at Secretary Noem. 

“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the Department of Homeland Security posted from its official X account. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately. Secretary Noem met with Senator Padilla after and held a 15 minute meeting.”

“Was Padilla there to protest the enforcement of the law? Was he there to protest law and order? I’m not quite sure,” said Fox News anchor John Roberts. 

“When we’re voting in the United States Senate, or an important legislation for the country, he’s not here, is that right?” Republican Senator John Barasso said to reporters when asked if he’d seen the video of Padilla’s arrest. He then asked them if they’d seen golfer Rory McIlroy’s drive. 

“Gavin Newsom watched this video of a sitting Democrat senator being removed for barging into a briefing and thinks the law enforcement officers are the ones out of control …,” the Republican National Committee Research account wrote on X in response to Newsom’s denunciation of Padilla’s arrest. 

“Chuck Schumer is ‘sickened’ by Alex Padilla getting removed from a briefing he forcibly interrupted but not by the violent riots attacking ICE agents in major cities?” they wrote again. Liberals are united in their condemnation. 

“I never thought I would imagine having to stand here and discuss what I saw today. A United States senator in his own community, in the city in which he grew up, elected under the authority of the people, stepping forward to get answers to legitimate questions—and we see him being thrown to the ground after being removed from a room forcibly, and put into handcuffs by multiple people,” Senator Cory Booker said on the Senate floor, shortly after the incident. “This to me is such an abuse of authority; it is a violent act, and there can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees, laid flat on the ground, their hands twisted behind their back, and being put into restraints.… This is a pattern and a practice, this is not an isolated incident.” 

“United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration’s actions in Southern California,” former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote on X. “This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”

“Senator Alex Padilla is a good man and principled public servant. The brazen and aggressive manhandling of Senator Padilla by the Trump administration is a sickening disgrace,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries chimed in. “Anyone who assaulted the Senator should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

Senator Padilla had his own press conference to set the record straight. 

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security response to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers, out in the Los Angeles community, and throughout California, and throughout the country” he said. “We will hold this administration accountable.” 

The Department of Homeland Security is already lying about having Senator Alex Padilla forcefully removed from Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles Thursday.

In posts on X, the official DHS account and Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement attempting to justify wrestling Padilla to the ground and handcuffing him.

“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement read.

“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands. @SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”

But in a video of the altercation from Padilla’s office, the senator could be heard clearly identifying himself.

“Hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” said the California Democrat as a security guard pushed him out of the room.

In a statement later in the day, Padilla confirmed that he hadn’t been arrested.

“I was not arrested. I was not detained. I will say this. If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country. We will hold this administration accountable.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth won’t say that a judge can order him to stop using federal forces for immigration enforcement.

A federal judge was set to hold a hearing Thursday after the court denied California Governor Gavin Newsom’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Trump administration from using Marines and the federalized National Guard to “enforce immigration laws and other civil laws on the streets of our cities.”

While testifying before the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, Hegseth was asked point blank by Representative Ro Khanna whether he would abide by a potential federal district court ruling ordering him to end the use of federal forces in Los Angeles.

“Well, this is a pending—this is a pending situation,” Hegseth replied.

“Sure. Will you agree, though—it’s not my legal view, it’s not your legal view that makes the decision in America. It’s the federal judiciary,” Khanna continued. The California Democrat then repeated his question but still got no answer.

“What I will tell you is my job, right now, is to ensure that the troops we have in Los Angeles are capable of supporting law enforcement,” Hegseth said. “And we know that we’ve got the constitutional and statutory authority to do that.”

“That’s fine, but can you just assure us that you’ll abide by the decisions of the courts?” Khanna said.

“We’ve always looked to the decisions of the courts,” Hegseth replied, again evading the actual question.

“Well, the vice president has said that he doesn’t believe that the courts should be respected in military matters,” Khanna replied. JD Vance has previously said that a judge had no right to challenge a military operation.

“This is not my lane, but we also recognize that the way that the judiciary has expanded its powers during the Trump administration—” Hegseth said, echoing right-wing criticism of supposed judicial overreach.

Khanna asked whether Hegseth intended to abide by a ruling from the Supreme Court, and the district court before that.

“What I can say is we should not have local judges determining foreign polices or national security policies for the country,” Hegseth said.

This has become a common defense for lawlessness by the Trump administration, which has argued that the courts have no place in challenging practically any aspect of the president’s agenda, from deportations to tariffs. As desperate as members of the Trump administration are to dismiss federal judges as so-called “local,” they remain a crucial pillar in the country’s checks and balances, as set out in the U.S. Constitution.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration bypassed Newsom’s authority and deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and then 700 Marines to Los Angeles to assist ICE agents conducting sweeping immigration raids. Trump said Thursday that he deserved thanks for blatantly violating the state’s sovereignty, while Newsom has claimed that Trump’s latest efforts are the sign of severe mental decline,

California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference in Los Angeles featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday. The secretary was present to discuss recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the area.

The lawmaker was manhandled out of the room as he attempted to ask Noem a question about ICE.

“I am Senator Alex Padilla,” he can be heard saying as two men grabbed him.

When he was pushed out of a pair of double doors, Padilla was heard shouting, “Hands off!” Multiple men were involved in shoving the lawmaker, before Padilla was handcuffed on the ground by three FBI agents.

Padilla was reportedly ushered out of the room after he told Noem that “you insist on exaggerating,” according to NBC Los Angeles.

The incident didn’t appear to bother Noem, who continued speaking with reporters without missing a beat.

“We are not going away,” Noem said, moments before Padilla was removed, according to Independent reporter Justin Baragona. “We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country and what they have tried to insert into the city.”

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin reported that he and his team witnessed Padilla being “taken to the ground” and detained outside the room. Another angle of the incident showed an FBI agent warning the videographer that recording was not allowed in the hallway, citing FBI regulations.

“When I leave here I’ll have a conversation with him, but I think everyone would agree that wasn’t appropriate,” Noem said.

“When I leave here I’ll find him and visit and find out really what his concerns were. I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn’t appropriate, that if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,” she added.

The lawmaker’s detention follows days of protests across Los Angeles, in which thousands of Angelinos have taken to the streets to visibly reject the Trump administration’s anti-immigration agenda.

Protesters have blocked off major freeways, trashed Waymos (self-driving cars), and organized outside City Hall and the Metropolitan Detention Center. In reaction, law enforcement officials shot rubber bullets and fired tear gas and flash bangs into crowds of civilians. The FBI added protesters suspected of throwing rocks at police cars to its Most Wanted list and issued an ominous threat Monday to intervene in the anti-Trump display without guidance from California or the White House.

Hours later, California sued the federal government to roll back Trump’s deployment of 4,100 National Guard members that state authorities said had not been authorized or requested to handle the protests. California Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Trump’s decision as “illegal” and a “brazen abuse of power” that had only further “inflamed a combustible situation.

“When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. he made that order apply to every state in this nation,” Newsom said. “This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next.”

In another decision that nobody responsible for overseeing peace in Los Angeles wanted, Trump additionally deployed 700 Marines to the City of Angels, an initiative that Defense officials revealed Tuesday would cost U.S. taxpayers $134 million.

The president had also claimed that the Los Angeles Police Department had requested the White House’s assistance—a claim that Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell vehemently refuted.

Trump also endorsed threats to arrest Newsom when the California governor began to hit back, telling reporters that he’d “do it.”

This story has been updated.