‘I’m Done’ MS NOW Anchor Throws Down with Thom Tillis Over RFK Jr. Vote

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and MS NOW’s Luke Russert threw down in a tense exchange about Tillis’s decision to vote to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Tillis joined MS NOW’s The Weeknight on Tuesday in the latest stop on his tour to promote a new book where he is open about his fights behind the scenes with President Donald Trump. Tillis was grilled about his votes to confirm Kennedy and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth amid his criticism of the administration.

Russert brought up Tillis’s initial excitement about Kennedy, noting the senator said he hoped Kennedy would “go wild” and bring “new ideas” as an “outsider.” He also noted Tillis said he would push back on Kennedy if he took a stance against the “safety of proven vaccines.”

Russert argued Kennedy has done exactly that by pulling vaccine recommendations for children and gutting the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Russert said:

So here we are now. He’s completely changed up the vaccine schedule. He’s pulled seven vaccine recommendations for children. He single-handedly fired everybody on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. We now have a measles outbreak in New York and Pennsylvania. Measles are back. So I ask you as a father of a 10-week-old daughter who has to think about the measles now in the United States of America, something that was eradicated not long ago. Did he go wild enough for you?

“Well, number one, there’s a reason why he’s on the cover of the book. Number two, I’m not worried about your daughter because you’re going to make an informed decision and you have the means and the access,” Tillis responded.

“How can I do that if measles is out there and she can’t get a vaccine for measles until she’s one year old?” Russert fired back.

“She can’t?” a confused Tillis asked.

The two dove into crosstalk as they debated the subject, with Tillis saying Russert has a “choice” on when to vaccinate his daughter and Russert arguing that the current measles outbreaks combined with Kennedy’s vaccine changes put his daughter at major risk.

“Is it illegal to get it sooner?” Tillis asked.

“Pediatricians don’t recommend that. That’s the science behind that,” Russert informed him.

“Is it a choice that you want to make?” Tillis asked.

“I’m sorry?” Russert asked, confused by the line of questions.

“My point here is you have the means to get your child vaccinated when you want to. People that grew up like me in a trailer park, who hear this guy say, ‘Oh, take your time or do multiple phases, he made a huge mistake. He’s putting lives at risk. But you don’t have to worry about that because you’ve got an educated choice in the resources,'” Tillis explained.

“Of course I have to worry about it! It’s herd immunity! If someone doesn’t have the vaccine and they have measles and I’m walking in an airport and my daughter’s unvaccinated, she could get measles,” Russert shot back.

“Your daughter can get vaccinated though, right?” Tillis asked.

Russert grew so frustrated he decided to try to abandon the topic altogether.

“Okay, I’m done. I’m sorry. You’re talking in circles and it makes absolutely no sense. So I’m good,” he said.

After some more back and forth, Tillis explained his Kennedy vote and said he based it on medical doctors in the party supporting him.

“Three doctors in the committees of jurisdiction, medical doctors, every one of them — if any one of them had voted the other way, I would have. I’m not afraid. I mean, my gosh, guys, look at what I’ve done over the last couple of years, not since I retired. I have stood up to this president. This guy had three medical doctors in the Republican conference suggested that he should be confirmed. That’s why I did it. If any one of them had said otherwise, I would have,” he said.

Watch above via MS NOW.

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