Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday he’s confident Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will support a “pro-life agenda” if confirmed as secretary.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Graham said he will support Kennedy’s nomination, even though the nominee has in the past described himself as “pro-choice” on the abortion issue.
“I am now OK supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing, he’s committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump’s pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy dealing with chemical abortions,” Graham told Fox News’s Shannon Bream.
“So I will take him at his word,” Graham continued. “I’m comfortable with what he said on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person, but I do believe that, as secretary, he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump.”
“So I will be a yes,” he said, adding, “But I will also watch every move he makes.”
Kennedy testified this past week at confirmation hearings before the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and he was pressed repeatedly on his controversial views, including on abortion.
Kennedy was asked about a 2023 campaign visit when he described himself as “pro-choice.”
“You have clearly stated in the past that bodily autonomy is one of your core values. The question is, do you stand for that value or not?” one Democratic senator asked him during the hearing this past week. “When was it that you decided to sell out the values you’ve had your whole life in order to be given power by President Trump?”
Kennedy repeatedly responded to similar questions, saying he agrees with Trump that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
Kennedy ran for president in 2024, first in the Democratic primary and then as an independent candidate in the race. He eventually dropped out and threw his support behind Trump’s campaign.
