(VIDEO) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He Never Called for Black Children to Be 'Re-Parented' :There is a Recording

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. turned a House hearing on health policy and the Trump administration's proposed 2027 budget into one of the sharpest Capitol Hill clashes of the day on Thursday after he denied ever saying Black children taking ADHD medication should be "re-parented," only for lawmakers and social media users to quickly point to a resurfaced recording in which he used that exact phrase.

The hearing, before the House Ways and Means Committee, was supposed to center on Kennedy's health agenda and a proposed $111 billion HHS budget. Instead, it veered repeatedly into confrontations over vaccines, measles, Medicare fraud, and Kennedy's own past remarks.

The most explosive exchange came when Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, confronted Kennedy over comments from a June 2024 appearance on the 19Keys podcast. Sewell cited Kennedy's earlier statement that "Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, on SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence, and those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get re-parented, to live in a community where there'll be no cellphones, no screens. You'll actually have to talk to people." According to live coverage of the hearing, Kennedy responded that he doubted he had said it and added that he did not know what "re-parent" means.

That denial did not land cleanly. Within minutes, the internet was flooded with receipts.

Sewell tied Kennedy's language to the "long and painful history" of the country of taking Black children from their families through slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination in child welfare and policing. In that context, the phrase "re-parented" became a flashpoint about race, state power, and Kennedy's judgment as the nation's top health official.

His denial also reopened the conversations online about this credentials, abilities and mental state to perform as secretary of Health.

Still, the Sewell clash was only one part of a bruising hearing. Kennedy largely tried to stay on safer terrain, emphasizing nutrition, food safety, drug pricing, anti-fraud efforts, and his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda while sidestepping the vaccine politics that have become one of the most controversial parts of his tenure. The proposed HHS budget he defended would cut the department by 12.5% and trim $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health, while also eliminating a low-income energy assistance program. Those cuts drew criticism not just from Democrats, but from some Republicans as well.

Democrats, for their part, repeatedly dragged the hearing back to the issues Kennedy appeared most eager to avoid. Rep. Linda Sánchez of California pressed him on the measles outbreak and on whether the vaccine could have saved the life of an unvaccinated child who died in Texas. Kennedy answered that it was "possible, certainly," but did not directly answer Sánchez's questions about ending a CDC campaign encouraging vaccination.

Rep. Mike Thompson of California also went after Kennedy's credentials, asking whether he had a medical or public health degree. Kennedy answered no. Thompson then accused him of overruling experts and spreading dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine public confidence in vaccines.

Another tense moment came when Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada discussed his constituents' struggles to access healthcare and Kennedy told him to "Calm down, congressman."

Horsford snapped back: "Don't tell me to calm down. Health care is personal to me. If you can't answer basic questions, then maybe come prepared next time." Kennedy replied that Horsford was upset because he did not "have much to say." The exchange reinforced a dynamic that has followed Kennedy into past hearings, one in which lawmakers accuse him of dodging questions while he accuses critics of grandstanding.

There were also policy fights beyond the headline-grabbing exchanges. Lawmakers pressed Kennedy over Medicare fraud, including questions about the reinstatement of hundreds of previously suspended agents. Democrats also challenged him on cuts affecting programs such as WIC and SNAP and on whether those reductions squared with his repeated claims that he wants to improve children's health. NPR reported that Kennedy said he was "not happy" with some of the proposed cuts, a notable acknowledgment given that he was appearing to defend the administration's budget.

By the end of the session, the hearing had become a vivid example of Kennedy's political problem in office. He tried to frame himself as a reformer focused on food, chronic disease, and government waste, but the questions in the hearing repeatedly forced him back onto the terrain where he is most vulnerable: vaccines, public health, and his own record of inflammatory comments.