Trump’s former surgeon general calls for RFK Jr. to be fired

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN

(CNN) — Jerome Adams, who served as US surgeon general during President Donald Trump’s first administration, is calling for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be fired as controversy continues to swirl over his handling of vaccine approvals.

When asked by CNN’s Victor Blackwell on Saturday if Trump should fire Kennedy, Adams said, “I absolutely believe that he should for the sake of the nation and the sake of his legacy.”

Adams’ comments come after a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill earlier this week, where Kennedy was grilled by both Democrats and Republicans about his views on vaccines and the recent exodus at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the resignation of its director, over tighter vaccine policies Kennedy was pushing.

“I’m deeply concerned about the health and safety of our nation under RFK’s current leadership,” Adams told Blackwell, later adding: “I absolutely believe he is uniquely damaging the credibility of federal agencies like the CDC, (National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration) and he’s putting us at risk.”

The former surgeon general also raised concerns about Trump’s close relationship with Kennedy, arguing that the president should take charge of health policy.

“I’m just flabbergasted, to be honest, that he seems to have President Trump in a thrall,” Adams said. “President Trump is clearly the leader on foreign policy, clearly the leader on the economy and tariffs. But when it comes to health he’s doing whatever RFK says.”

Yet, Adams said he is “hopeful” that Trump will recognize what he described as “the danger” Kennedy poses.

“I still am hopeful that President Trump will begin to see the danger that is being presented — not just to America, but to his own legacy — by continuing to have RFK in this position, making these horrific decisions,” Adams told Blackwell.

During Thursday’s congressional hearing, Kennedy defended the changes at the CDC, claiming that they “were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency.”

When Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren argued that last month’s decision by the FDA — which falls under Kennedy’s purview — is effectively denying some people access to updated Covid-19 vaccines after only approving it for a limited group of people, Kennedy cast doubt on the efficacy of the vaccine.

“I’m not going to recommend a product for which there’s no clinical data for that indication. Is that what I should be doing?” Kennedy asked Warren.

Following the hearing, Trump praised Kennedy’s performance, saying that while he didn’t watch the hearing, “I heard he did very well today.”

But on Friday Trump appeared to distance himself from Florida’s decision to eliminate school vaccine requirements, that all people should get certain vaccines.

“I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated,” he said. “You have vaccines that work, they just pure and simple work. They’re not controversial at all, and I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people.”

CNN’s Adam Cancryn contributed to this report.

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