BURSTSen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is demanding Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “immediately” fire a key ally from his role as vaccine advisor on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel due to "escalating and violent” rhetoric in the wake of an attack on CDC headquarters.
Blumenthal wrote a letter to Kennedy on Wednesday calling for him to fire Robert Malone from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Blumenthal said Malone “issued a meme-filled post” on his personal blog “that included violent and threatening images that appeared to be directed at government officials.”
Hours before a gunman attacked CDC headquarters, Malone uploaded a post to his personal blog that included an image of a revolver loaded with a single bullet and the words, “Five out of six scientists have proven that Russian roulette is harmless.”
Less than 48 hours after the attack, another of Malone’s blog posts included images of guns and meme with the words “if you need a disarmed society to govern, you suck at governing.”
On Friday, a gunman opened fire on the CDC in Atlanta, killing a responding police officer. Officials said almost 500 shell casings were recovered, and about 200 struck six facilities on the agency's campus. The alleged shooter was motivated by his distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to law enforcement.
Kennedy tapped Malone as one of eight hand-picked replacement members of the ACIP in June after firing the 17 sitting panelists. Malone is a former researcher who helped lay the groundwork for mRNA vaccine technology, but has since turned into a self-professed anti-vaxxer, COVID-19 skeptic and close advisor to Kennedy.
ACIP is an influential panel that recommends which vaccines go on the childhood and adult schedules after reviewing safety data. If ACIP endorses a vaccine, insurers must cover it.
“Malone has displayed an unfathomable failure of judgment and heartlessness for the family of slain Officer Rose, and for the thousands of CDC staff on whom the work of ACIP depends,” Blumenthal wrote in the letter.
“Dr. Malone’s escalating and violent rhetoric—including in the aftermath of this tragic incident—has no place on a panel responsible for determining immunization recommendations for children and adults throughout our country,” he continued, before calling on Kennedy to fire Malone immediately.
Malone did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"Sen. Blumenthal’s demand is nothing more than virtue signaling,” an HHS spokesman told The Hill. “Dr. Malone was selected for ACIP based on his long-standing scientific credentials and we are grateful to him for taking the call to serve. This is not a moment for the media or democratic lawmakers to exploit a tragedy for political gain.”