WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a childhood polio survivor, said President-elect Donald Trump's nominees seeking confirmation should "steer clear" of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.
"Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed -- they're dangerous," McConnell, 82, said in a Friday statement. "Anyone seeking the Senate's consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts."
The message appeared to be directed at Trump's nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after news reports that one of his advisers filed a petition to revoke approval for the polio vaccine in 2022.
McConnell's statement was a sign Kennedy, who long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism, could face resistance in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate.
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"Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied," said Katie Miller, transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, in response to questions.
Vaccines were proven safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real-world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. They are considered among the most effective public health measures in history.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also defended the polio vaccine Friday on social media and called on Kennedy to clarify his own position on it.
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