'Grand Old Pestilence': Billionaire urges GOP to correct its 'worst mistake'

Michael Bloomberg called on Republican senators to correct their "worst mistake" by reining in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The former Republican New York City mayor, a billionaire who registered as a Democrat in 2018, published a column for his namesake Bloomberg News blasting Senate Republicans for confirming the inexperienced and underqualified Kennedy to lead the nation's public health agency.

He hit to Cabinet member as being, "The nation’s foremost peddler of junk science and the crackpot conspiracy theories that flow from it," and he argued it's not too late to stop him.

"In just a few months, Kennedy has helped bring a pox upon the country — and until Republicans get serious about holding him accountable, more Americans will die, and the president’s legacy on health and safety will be badly tarnished," Bloomberg wrote.

Kennedy has undermined public confidence in vaccines as a deadly measles outbreak spreads, and Bloomberg called on GOP senators to correct their mistake by demanding the White House put pressure on him to promote trust in their efficacy and appoint more qualified individuals to the vaccine panel — or, better yet, fire him as secretary.

"If they won’t do it to save lives, they should do it to save their own skin," Bloomberg wrote. "Democrats could hardly dream up a better line of attack than the one Kennedy is giving them, by turning the GOP into the party of measles — the Grand Old Pestilence. That’s not going to play well with parents."

"Making America healthy again starts with bringing Kennedy to heel — or sending him packing," Bloomberg added. "Until Senate Republicans summon the courage to do that, more Americans will get severely sick and die — and Republicans will suffer the backlash at the polls."