(NewsNation) — Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims people calling him an anti-vaxxer is a way of “silencing” him.
“I’ve never been anti-vaccine, and I’ve said that hundreds and hundreds of times but it doesn’t matter,” Kennedy told NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas in a town hall Wednesday. “Because that is a way of silencing me. Using a pejorative to describe me is a way of silencing me or marginalizing me.”
Despite Kennedy’s comments, he claimed that vaccines are not “safety tested” and that the Food and Drug Administration is a “corrupt federal agency.”
“Unfortunately, vaccines are not safety tested. They’re not,” Kennedy said.
According to the FDA, a vaccine goes through two separate research phases before an initial three phases of clinical trials when it’s being developed for distribution in the U.S.
The CDC says before a vaccine is approved by the FDA for use by the public, results of extensive studies on safety and efficacy are evaluated by scientists and doctors within the FDA.
When presented with FDA information on safety testing, Kennedy replied: “What I’m saying is the FDA does lie.”
He continued: “We have a corrupt federal agency. It’s lying to the AMA, to you, to all of those agencies and all of the doctors. They believe them. Those agencies are controlled by pharma. That is the problem and that’s what I’m trying to end as president.”
Dr. Tariq Butt, a family medicine physician attending the town hall, told Kennedy the medical community is always searching for ways to improve the safety of vaccines.
“The medical community is always looking for that, but at the same time we can really come to an agreement that vaccines are important,” Butt said. “They do prevent those diseases. After all, smallpox was all around the world and it’s not there anymore. So, there is evidence of that.”
According to the World Health Organization, vaccines prevent 3.5-5 million deaths every year.
Kennedy chairs the Children’s Health Defense and has been called “the ringleader of the misinformation campaign.” Facebook and Instagram have previously removed the accounts of the organization for spreading medical misinformation.
Kennedy is a scion of one of America’s most well-known political families. He is a nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of slain presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Family members have spoken out against his views.
“We love Bobby … We stand behind him in his ongoing fight to protect our environment. However, on vaccines, he is wrong. And his and others’ work against vaccines is having heartbreaking consequences,” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Maeve Kennedy McKean said.
Kennedy has previously said his views on vaccines have “damaged relationships even with people in my family.”
When asked at the town hall about some of his family’s comments against him, he asked Vargas: “Does your family agree with everything you say?”
Kennedy announced his White House bid in April. He has been called a long shot candidate in the Democratic primary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.