4 highlights from RFK Jr.'s contentious interview with Dana Bash: 'You were part of the problem'
2. Kennedy pushes back on COVID-19 vaccine assertions: 'You are saying nonsense'
When Bash asserted that it was "factually true that the COVID vaccine worked" before implying the measles outbreak was his fault, Kennedy pressed her to cite a study that showed the COVID-19 vaccine protected children.
Despite citing unnamed "doctors and scientists I have talked to," Bash was unable to readily cite a specific study that backed up her claim that "there could have been 100 to 200,000 lives in the U.S. saved" if more people had taken the COVID-19 vaccine.
"You are saying nonsense," Kennedy said. "You are saying something that you cannot show me a single study that says that. You are talking what somebody told you."
RFK JR: “Can you show me one study that shows children were protected by the covid vaccine?”
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) August 2, 2026
CNN: “There are studies that show because of vaccine disinformation, there could have been 200,000 lives saved.”
RFK JR: “You are talking nonsense.” pic.twitter.com/k8zmZxdgYs
"Excuse me!" Bash said before claiming Kennedy himself was citing "a study that does not exist."
"Cite me the study that you're talking about. You say you're seeing studies. Cite me the study," Kennedy said, prompting Bash to say their exchange is "not productive."
"You're talking nonsense. You're making assertions you can't support, and then when I call you on them, they're you're telling me I'm arguing with you," Kennedy said.
A 2022 analysis published in the European Journal of Epidemiology claimed that "at least 232,000 deaths could have been prevented among unvaccinated adults during the 15 months had they been vaccinated with at least a primary series."
