Senator Bill Cassidy built a career and a reputation as a champion of public health. He’s a Republican, of course, which puts him in a precarious spot, at least inasmuch as every Republican can either support Trump … or do the right thing.
When it came time to vote on the nomination of RFK Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Cassidy knew that a no vote would potentially be the end of his Senate career. So he voted for RFK Jr.
Cassidy, a doctor, once told of the tragedy of watching an 18-year-old patient suffer acute liver failure due to hepatitis B, a disease preventable by vaccination. He believes in vaccines. He believes in public health.
RFK Jr. does not. Cassidy made a Faustian bargain by voting for him — perhaps, he may have thought, I’ll be able to check the impulses of RFK Jr., if I’m able to stay in the Senate.
