A former U.S. surgeon general on Sunday said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “failed” in his response to the shootings that took place on Friday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta.
“How you respond to a crisis defines a leader, and quite frankly Secretary Kennedy has failed in his first major test in this regard,” Dr. Jerome Adams told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation."
Adams said Kennedy’s response to the deadly shooting was “tepid,” and criticized the secretary for the length of time it took the him to address the deadly act of violence.
“It took him over 18 hours to issue a tepid response to these horrific shootings, and that's not even considering how his inflammatory rhetoric in the past have actually contributed to a lot of what's been going on,” said Adams, who served during President Donald Trump’s first term.
A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adams’s fury comes after a gunman opened fire at the CDC’s Atlanta headquarters on Friday, killing one police officer and repeatedly striking CDC buildings. The 30-year-old shooter reportedly blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal. Under Kennedy’s leadership, the agency has stopped recommending the vaccine for pregnant people and has narrowed the recommendations for healthy children.
Kennedy has previously voiced skepticism for vaccines including the Covid vaccine. Last week, he announced that HHS would halt $500 million in funding for mRNA research, the technology used to create some of the Covid-19 vaccines. Kennedy cited safety concerns as the reason behind the decision; critics said that concern was unfounded.
On Saturday, the secretary extended condolences to the family of slain Officer David Rose and other CDC workers affected by the shooting.
“No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,” Kennedy said in a post to social media. “We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.”
But Adams said that Kennedy’s own rhetoric about the CDC — including his description of the agency as a “cesspool of corruption” — may have played a role in influencing the shooter’s actions.
“He made this statement just last year,” Adams said. “And he still has not unequivocally condemned the violence. He said no one should be harmed while working to protect the public. There's an out there, Margaret. If you don't believe that people are working to protect the public, then that means it's OK to commit violence, at least in some people's eyes.”
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