RFK Jr. dip with his grandson at contaminated DC Creek
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. marked Mother’s Day by swimming with his grandson in a contaminated stream at DC Park.
Ben & Jerry co-founder Ben Cohen was one of about a half dozen people after protesting to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy at the Senate hearing on May 14th.
Within minutes of Kennedy’s testimony, five members of the audience rose from their seats and began charging towards the front of the room near members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet. “RFK kills people with AIDS,” the group chanted.
Capitol police quickly removed protesters, including Cohen, from the room. The ice cream company known for supporting liberal causes and candidates did not immediately respond to USA Today’s request for comment.
Known for taking a controversial stance on vaccines, Kennedy has been criticized by healthcare advocates to raise questions about the established science that AIDS is caused by a virus known as HIV.
At least 87 different groups, including the International Association of AIDS Care, opposed Kennedy’s appointment to lead a country’s health agency that is facing significant cuts under the Trump administration.
For most of the hearing, Democrats burned Kennedy with questions about the vaccine, the country’s measles outbreak, and how they are implementing the recently approved spending bill.
Republican members were largely focused on Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy” initiative. It is expected to receive $500 million infusions under Trump’s budget, and is being promoted to end what the secretary calls the country’s “chronic disease epidemic.”
Cohen was protesting Israeli war in Gaza
Cohen was swept at Kennedy’s hearing, but he was also inside the Capitol opposed Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.
Earlier in the day, he joined Senator Rashida Tribe, D-Michigan and other left-leaning activists, and this week denounced US allies for intensifying artillery fire in the region.
“We are good Americans and we are expected to look the other way around as Israel keeps food, water and medicines from reaching the rest of Gaza. Israel literally starves them,” Cohen told a news event.
“We won’t look away. We won’t be silent. We will do everything we can to help the government stop the little hungry children from conspire.”
Contributed by: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
