Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. criticized Democrats who remained seated during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, accusing them of opposing the administration’s prescription drug reforms out of political hostility rather than policy concerns.
RFK Jr. calls out Democrats after SOTU
The friction between RFK Jr. and congressional Democrats became evident after Tuesday’s SOTU speech, where Donald Trump highlighted his administration’s push to reduce prescription drug prices through “Most Favored Nation” agreements and the TrumpRx platform.
Following the speech, Kennedy spoke with News Nation and expressed disappointment over what he described as a lack of bipartisan cooperation. “So far, we haven’t gotten much cooperation from the Democrats,” Kennedy said.
RFK Jr. addressed Democrats who stayed seated as Donald Trump outlined his domestic agenda during the SOTU. He suggested their opposition reflected what he described as “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a term associated with the president.
“The only issue they’ve got is we hate Trump, and anything he says is going to be wrong,” Kennedy said. “And a lot of things President Trump wants are things that are good for our country, and I don’t think it’s a good political choice for the Democrats to just say anything that President Trump wants, we’re gonna be against.”
During the address, Trump defended his drug pricing strategy and contrasted it with past administrations. “They were all talk and no action, but I got it done,” Trump said. He added, “Under my just-enacted, most favored nation agreements, Americans who have for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs, anywhere.”
Democrats have challenged the administration’s claims about TrumpRx. Sen. Ron Wyden labeled the initiative a “glorified coupon book” when it launched earlier this month (via The Hill). A staff report released by Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats ahead of the SOTU argued that projected savings were overstated and based on discounts that already existed, while failing to highlight cheaper generic alternatives.
