Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) asked Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if President Trump should receive a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed. “I applaud you for joining the president in a call for radical transparency. Thank you for that,” the GOP senator told RFK Jr. “I said yesterday, I believe it, that President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed. If he had been President Obama, he would have gotten it. But because of Operation Warp Speed, forcing the federal government to come to a vaccine development within 10 months when others said it couldn’t be done,” Cassidy continued. “Mr. Secretary, do you agree with me that the president deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed?” he asked RFK Jr. “Absolutely,” the health secretary responded. “But you just told Sen. Bennet that the COVID vaccine killed more people than COVID,” Cassidy responded. RFK Jr. claimed he “did not say that.” Watch the exchange below: Sen. Bill Cassidy: "Do you agree with me that President Trump deserves a Nobel Prize for Operation Warp Speed?" RFK: "Absolutely." Sen. Bill Cassidy: "But you just told Sen. Bennet that the Covid vaccine killed more people than Covid?" pic.twitter.com/fWeuhHWTtG — The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 4, 2025 NBC News has more: Kennedy denied that he said the vaccine killed more people than Covid, and offered to explain why he conducted legal work in opposition to the vaccine. But Cassidy was unimpressed, saying he had limited time and persisted with further questions. Cassidy cited testimonials from a conservative commentator that HHS actions are making it harder for some Americans to get the Covid vaccine, and from physicians worried that the lack of guidance from HHS about the vaccine could create liability problems. “I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccine,” Cassidy told Kennedy during his questioning. The unusual exchange comes as Cassidy walks a political tightrope. He’s a doctor and proponent of vaccines. But he’s also running for re-election in the deep-red state of Louisiana, where he faces a challenge from the MAGA wing of the party. Trump has not made an endorsement in the race. Cassidy’s strategy Thursday was to voice his skepticisms of Kennedy through the language of Trump’s movement: by presenting them as a way to show support for the president and to protect his legacy. Earlier this week, it appeared President Trump finally started changing his tune on Operation Warp Speed. President Trump FINALLY Changing His Tune About “Operation Warp Speed”? The RapidResponse47 account on X shared this post from President Trump: pic.twitter.com/gV5EuI7Cr5 — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 1, 2025 A closer look: FULL TEXT TRANSCRIPT: It is very important that the Drug Companies justify the success of their various Covid Drugs. Many people think they are a miracle that saved millions of lives. Others disagree! With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it NOW. I have been shown information from Pfizer, and others, that is extraordinary, but they never seem to show those results to the public. Why not??? They go off to the next “hunt” and let everyone rip themselves apart, including Bobby Kennedy Jr. and CDC, trying to figure out the success or failure of the Drug Companies’ Covid work. They show me GREAT numbers and results, but they don’t seem to be showing them to many others. I want them to show them NOW, to CDC and the public, and clear up this MESS, one way or the other!!! I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as “BRILLIANT” as many say it was. If not, we all want to know about it, and why??? Thank you for your attention to this very important matter! President DJT POLITICO shared additional details: Cassidy faces a Trump-friendly primary opponent and voted in 2021 to convict Trump for inciting the riot on Jan. 6 of that year at the Capitol. Despite Cassidy’s vote, Trump was acquitted. Kennedy said he agreed that Trump deserved a Nobel Prize. But Cassidy said he saw a contradiction, pointing to Kennedy’s past work for anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense and his decision to cancel $500 million in federal mRNA vaccine research funding, as well as his past statement that “the Covid vaccine killed more people than Covid.” Cassidy also raised alarms about Kennedy’s effort to overhaul the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel, saying many of Kennedy’s appointees to the panel had served as paid witnesses in cases against vaccine makers. “That actually seems like a conflict of interest,” Cassidy added. Kennedy pushed back, saying bias was acceptable “if that bias is disclosed.”