During Senate confirmation hearings for bitcoiner Robert Kennedy Jr. — President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services — NPR reported,
“Kennedy faced tough questions from Democrats, as well as a few key Republican senators …”
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis asked the nominee, “I got a real quick question for you: Are you a conspiracy theorist?”
Genuine laughter, coming from the audience of mostly senators and press, audibly followed the senator’s question. Kennedy replied in nonplussed manner, tackling the charge with calm preparedness:
“That is a pejorative, Senator, that’s applied to me, mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions of powerful interests.”
He continued, “… That label was applied to me because I said that the COVID vaccine didn’t prevent transmission, and it wouldn’t prevent infection when the government was telling Americans that it would. …
“I was called a conspiracy theorist because I said red dye caused cancer, and now FDA has acknowledged that, and banned it.
“I was called a conspiracy theorist because I said fluoride lowered IQ. Last week, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) published a meta-review of 87 studies saying that there’s a direct inverse correlation between IQ loss.”
Kennedy was also “grilled about vaccines and abortion,” the NPR headline reads, especially by Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren.
“You’re asking me not to sue vaccine companies,” Kennedy responded.
Warren is widely known for wanting to build an “anti-crypto army,” calling the industry a “threat to financial stability.”
She has also been challenged regarding her lack of “understanding of blockchain technology.”
Republican former candidate John Deaton reportedly challenged both Democratic incumbent Elizabeth Warren’s Senate seat, and her understanding of blockchain technology, “suggesting that her comments either indicate a fundamental misunderstanding or intentional misrepresentation.”
Warren defeated the challenger, to maintain her seat in the U.S. Senate.
Notably, she did not bring bitcoin up once Wednesday, although Kennedy holds bitcoin and has a very public record of supporting adoption.
While still a presidential candidate, Kennedy said,
“My goal as the first bitcoin president will be to enact policies that will make America the world’s greatest representative for bitcoin.”
Kennedy also campaigned for a bitcoin reserve when in Nashville, one day before Trump took the stage, and was quoted as far back as May 2023, saying that
“Your bank account could be frozen because of your politics. That is why I oppose CBDCs. That’s also why I support #Bitcoin“
And in Nov. 2024, ““#Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans, a remedy against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the offramp from a ruinous national debt.”
Last month, President Trump did sign an executive order to establish a “working group” on digital currencies. However, he has a personal penchant for “crypto” projects (World Liberty Finacial, Trump and Melania tokens, his own NFTs).
This is a far cry from what many “bitcoin maxis” may have hoped for from the Trump administration, regarding a strategic reserve or worldwide bitcoin adoption, Kennedy’s past-stated goals.
While Sen. Warren did not directly address or challenge the cabinet pick’s views on bitcoin, bitcoiners can perhaps look forward to more bitcoin-centric legislation — and maybe more “based” one-liners — from Kennedy.
He is well-versed in bitcoin, and apparently not afraid to dole out hard answers to hostile questions — or individuals.
