U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, interacts with attendees on Sept. 26, 2025, at the Black Hills Forum and Press Club in Rapid City. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
RAPID CITY — When John Thune disagrees with people, he tries to do it “in a respectful way,” he said Friday.
So his description of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might be as close as Thune gets to a put-down.
“He’s got some very interesting views,” Thune said.
The Republican U.S. Senate majority leader from South Dakota made the comments in response to an audience member at the Black Hills Forum and Press Club. The question came from Sherry Bea Smith, who identified herself as a nurse from Nemo, a small Black Hills community.
Smith said “Americans have been placed in harm’s way” by Kennedy, the secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Smith asked Thune — who voted for Kennedy’s confirmation — if he has a plan to “provide oversight and take action to ensure the health and safety of the American public.”
Thune replied that the Senate is exercising its oversight role and will continue to do so. He referenced a “fairly argumentative and explosive and combative” Senate Finance Committee hearing with Kennedy earlier this month, and said he expects more hearings like that if Kennedy takes actions that senators view as out-of-step with science.
“I think that’s where a majority of my colleagues are,” Thune said. “And I think if RFK veers off too much one way or another on that, I’m guessing he’ll be brought back into a zone that’s more consistent with that overall philosophy.”
Kennedy sparked controversy recently with his assertion that Tylenol is one potential driving factor behind autism, despite the medical community describing the link as inconclusive. Kennedy’s critics responded with concern, including for pregnant women. Medical professionals worry that if pregnant mothers avoid using Tylenol to treat fevers, they could increase their risk for miscarriage and other complications.
Thune, who has two daughters and three granddaughters, indicated he shares that concern. He said recommendations and decisions about public health should be made by “medical professionals, by people who are grounded in science, grounded in medicine, and have done the research.” Kennedy is a lawyer, not a physician or scientist.
“Especially on an issue like Tylenol,” Thune said, “that ought to be something that your doctor gives you advice about.”
Another controversial Kennedy move was his firing and replacement earlier this year of everyone on an influential vaccine advisory panel. That panel has since moved to change recommendations concerning childhood vaccines, COVID-19 immunizations and more.
Before Kennedy was appointed to the Trump administration, he was known for spreading false and misleading information about the safety of vaccines, including a repeatedly debunked claim that some vaccines lead to autism.
Thune said he’s had discussions about vaccine safety with President Donald Trump.
“The president believes in vaccines,” Thune said. “He’s made that very clear.
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