Sean JamesApr 18th, 2026, 4:33 pm
Cable news veteran Chris Matthews argued Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent years living a “life of drugs” that is now negatively influencing his government role and leading him to make poor medical claims.
Matthews shared his opinion during an appearance on MS NOW — where he used to host his own show for years when it was called MSNBC — on Saturday. Anchor Alex Witt noted Matthews was a “Kennedy aficionado” and brought up RFK Jr.’s testimony in front of Congress a day earlier.
Matthews said he was impressed by Rep. John Mannion (D-NY) prodding Kennedy about a statement he made earlier in the hearing where he called President Donald Trump the “most sane president” — but that he did not believe it showed Kennedy was “cracking” under scrutiny.
“I just think this guy is in his own world. I don’t know what he’s driven by,” Matthews said. “He had a lot of life of drugs before he got into this position, a lot of his world is probably directed by that in many ways.
He continued, “I can’t figure him out about this opposition to vaccination — we all had vaccination growing up, we took it as part of growing up and being healthy, and I think he’s a threat to our society in that regard.”
Kennedy has been a prominent skeptic of the COVID-19 vaccine, calling it the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” But he has repeatedly pushed back on the claims he is anti-vaccine since joining the Trump administration, saying during his 2025 confirmation hearing, “All of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in health care.”
He reiterated that stance during his congressional testimony on Friday.
“I’m not anti-vax. I’m pro-science,” Kennedy said. “What I’ve said is vaccines should be adequately safety tested so we know both about the risk and the benefits.”
As for Matthews’ comment on drugs, RFK Jr. has talked about his addiction issues a number of times. He told podcaster Theo Von earlier this year he was “not scared” of germs because he “used to snort cocaine off of toilet seats.”
Watch above via MS NOW.
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