On Sunday, Politics Twitter was abuzz over clips of Dana Bash’s interview with Robert Kennedy Jr. Bash interviewed Kennedy on CNN’s State of the Union, which used to be CNN’s version of Meet the Press. The big “tell” that CNN’s leadership has remade the channel into a wannabe Fox News catastrophe is that CNN didn’t even post this interview on YouTube. CNN has a YouTube channel, and this interview was easily their most talked-about and viral moment in months. They wouldn’t post it because it might hurt Republicans’ little baby feelings. Here’s part of what went down:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got into a heated exchange with Dana Bash surrounding various health issues while appearing on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend.
During the Sunday, Aug. 2, episode of the political program, Bash, 55, brought up how RFK Jr., 72, has placed blame surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and how the United States responded to it on Dr. Anthony Fauci — a physician-scientist who previously served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) until 2022.
Pointing out that Fauci, 85, worked for President Donald Trump, she asked RFK Jr. if the president “deserves some of the blame.” In response, the secretary of health and human services defended Trump, 80, and sparred with Bash about the pandemic overall.
When Bash later asked RFK Jr. about “how to prevent the next pandemic,” and highlighted how he wants to end gain-of-function research, which, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), helps “understand the genetic makeup of viruses and the specifics of virus-host interaction,” RFK Jr. once again pushed back.
Reiterating her question, and telling RFK Jr., “That’s literally part of your job now,” Bash and RFK Jr. still continued to clash about the idea of a potential future pandemic.
Bash eventually tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, stating, “I really want to move on.” RFK Jr. fired back at her, however, telling Bash: “Yeah, of course you want to, because you were part of the problem.” When Bash replied, “No, I wasn’t a part of the problem,” RFK Jr. responded, “There was absolute press malpractice.”
After once again going back and forth with each other during the tense on-air exchange, Bash asked RFK Jr., “Do you want to sit here and attack me, or do you want to have conversations about public health?” In response, he said, “Well, you’re sitting here attacking me.”
“I’m not attacking you. I’m asking questions about how to prevent the next pandemic,” Bash rebutted, adding that she didn’t want to use their interview together as an opportunity for the politician “to say things that aren’t entirely true.”
It went on and on like that – Dana Bash acquitted herself well, but I know she’s tired. In addition to being a galloping moron, Kennedy is also just a complete fraud who knows absolutely nothing about public health, vaccines, measles, pandemics or how to answer questions.
Kennedy’s voice has gotten really bad. Yikes.
😳 RFK Jr's epic CNN crashout 😳
Dana Bash pressed RFK Jr on Trump's culpability for mishandling covid and the misinformation he pushes about vaccines, and the segment wound down with him getting mad and barking at her like a rabid dog
Here's the full thing:
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 2, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
- United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr testifies before the US Senate Committee on Finance on “The President’s 2026 Health Care Agenda” in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Featuring: Robert F Kennedy Jr Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 04 Sep 2025 Credit: Andrew Thomas/CNP/INSTARimages
- United States President Donald J Trump, flanked by Jay Bhattacharya, Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH), center, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, right, signs a series of executive orders related to health care in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC USA, 05 May 2025. Trump said he would soon make an announcement on health care that would be ‘more related to costs, the costs of medicine and drugs.’ Pictured: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. BACKGRID USA 5 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- United States President Donald J Trump, flanked by Jay Bhattacharya, Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH), center, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, right, signs a series of executive orders related to health care in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC USA, 05 May 2025. Trump said he would soon make an announcement on health care that would be ‘more related to costs, the costs of medicine and drugs.’ Pictured: Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. BACKGRID USA 5 MAY 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
- United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr testifies before the US Senate Committee on Finance on “The President’s 2026 Health Care Agenda” in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Featuring: Robert F Kennedy Jr Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 04 Sep 2025 Credit: Andrew Thomas/CNP/INSTARimages
- United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr gives remarks during an event promoting maternal healthcare in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Monday May 11, 2026. President Trump is meeting with healthcare workers as his administration launches Moms.gov to highlight resources for unexpected pregnancies. Featuring: Robert F Kennedy Jr Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 11 May 2026 Credit: Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com

















I can’t even watch it. My blood pressure can’t tolerate this nonsense anymore. I do appreciate my fellow Minnesotan, Aaron Rupar, covering it so well. Too bad that CNN can’t even be bothered to stand up for their own anchor by posting the interview on YouTube. My favorite part is when he says, “You’re not a scientist.” And she replies, “You’re not either.” Well played!
I’m with you, I can’t watch it, so I appreciate reading about it here. It’s just almost too much sometimes.
The “you’re not a scientist” from him and her absolute chef’s kiss of a response, “neither are you” is going to become classic. These unqualified people in this admin are so confident in their ignorance. And as to Dr. Fauci, he had no power–none–to direct shutdowns. That was on the federal, state and local governments. He provided information. That’s it. It is so frustrating to see them try to excoriate an 85 year old man for doing his job.
Anything to distract from the fact that their own cult leader mishandled every aspect of the crisis in his first term as president. Then he capped it all off by getting COVID himself and reportedly nearly dying before being saved by a new therapy developed by the same scientists Kennedy and MAGA are now smearing.
She pointed out, twice, that governors instituted lockdowns. He just ignored it.
Hasn’t he just come out recommending the measles vaccine? Like just after the nick of time.
Has he? After so many years of disparaging it & saying it causes autism? Is anybody asking him why he changed his mind? I’d google, but as I just commented above, it’s all too much sometimes. I had measles as a kid, damn near died, my parents would have loved to have had a vaccine to prevent that.
She finally got him to say the measles vaccine is effective, but he refused to say that it’s safe. Those 2 words need to go together. This was not an oversight. He lied and misdirected his way through. These people are feral.
With my MSc in Public Health and over twenty years working in PH/epidemiology, I can say with some certainty that Dana Bash understands a heck of a lot more about public health than RFK Jr does!
Don’t even get me started on measles.
I had the opportunity to visit the CDCs museum on public health on the Emory campus years ago. I found it fascinating & finally understood what public health actually is. Thank you for your work!
It was a glorious meltdown and I kept thinking (wishing?) he might stroke out. And listen – strokes run in my family and they are horrible and I wouldn’t normally joke about them, but these are not normal times.
He’s a quack and not a medical person at all. Filled with misinformation, rage and misogyny. No wonder Trump loves him.
Trying to cover up the plain fact that 47 has millions of Covid deaths on his hands. Plain & simple, no ambiguity about that whatsoever. Topped off with all the money he made on grifting during the pandemic.
As for the rest of it, “RFK” is just one more piece of the shambling Frankensteinian monster of destruction that the people 47 has gathered together to destroy our democracy and economy have created.
He told her she did understand science and she told him he was no Scientist him himself