CNN’s Pamela Brown hosted a segment that was supposed to be a routine hit piece on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Instead, it backfired spectacularly as former lobbyist turned health advocate Calley Means took the opportunity to expose Dr. Paul Offit’s deep ties to Big Pharma and the shameless bias of mainstream media.
Offit, a longtime vaccine promoter who has made millions from pharmaceutical companies like Merck, attempted to brush off Means’ accusations of corruption and conflict of interest. But the facts don’t lie.
As Means pointed out, Offit has directly profited from the very industry he is supposed to regulate, receiving millions in payments while serving on vaccine advisory committees.
Callie Means:
You’re calling trust in public health? No, it’s the public health leaders themselves. It’s people defending the record that’s happening to health at HHS, explaining why cuts are bad.Of course, we should make cuts. Of course, the personnel should be changed. What’s causing this distrust in public health authorities is a conflict of interest, like Dr. Offit taking millions of dollars from pharmaceutical makers like Merck while approving and recommending pharmaceuticals on ASIP committees.
It’s the fact that Dr. Offit says that science has always settled when he himself has approved vaccines that have been recalled for causing organ failure in kids.
And it’s the fact that Dr. Offit is talking about measles, which is important. And I want to be clear, Pamela, I want to get this out. It’s important. But there were 300 deaths from measles a year before the invention of the vaccine.
We have 38% of children right now having prediabetes. Bobby is focused on that. He’s focused on reorganizing the department. And that’s what we should be talked about, not this distraction.
WATCH:
Of course, Offit denied this allegation and claimed he had no relationship with Big Pharma.
According to The Vigilant Fox, Offit “made millions when Merck sold RotaTeq, the rotavirus vaccine he co-invented. In 2008, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where Offit worked, sold its royalty stake in the vaccine for $182 million. Offit personally received a share of the proceeds, estimated to be in the millions. But sure, no relationship.”
Pamela Brown:
And I’m going to come back to you on that central question about the measles and the bird flu and whether cuts right now make sense. But I want you, Dr. Offit, obviously, he made a lot of claims there. I want you to respond to that. And we should note, you are a member of the FDA Vaccine Advisory Committee, and you recently told CNN that RFK Jr. will hurt America’s vaccine infrastructure. So please respond to that and tell us what you mean by that.Callie Means:
I hope you can disclose as millions of dollars of pharmaceutical payments while serving on that committee.Dr. Paul Offit:
Well, first of all, you’re not allowed to serve on the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee if you have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company. And so, because I don’t have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company, I’m able to serve on that committee.Secondly, and most importantly, actually, the things that Callie talks about, I actually agree with in some ways. I think that we are, for example, more obese as a country than we should be, and that the consequences of obesity, like hypertension or type 2 diabetes, I think we do have, in many ways, more chronic illnesses.
I think we overmedicate our children. I think there’s many things we can do better. I actually wrote a book called “Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far.” So I agree with all that.
What I don’t agree with is that in any way, vaccines are harmful, as RFK Jr. says. I mean, RFK Jr. continues to claim that vaccines cause autism when they don’t. He’s now made childhood vaccines a major target of this, and that’s only going to be to the detriment of children.
So I think that when, for example, he says we have more chronic disease in children than ever before, he says that the incidence is 1 in 36. Well, that’s the incidence of autism spectrum disorder.
There’s a lot of interesting cause or causes of autism spectrum disorder, like the infant microbiome or genetic or medicines that women or pregnant people can take during their pregnancy. That’s interesting.
But by focusing on childhood vaccines, he’s focusing on the one thing that doesn’t cause autism. And so vaccines, I think, are really the safest best-tested things that we give to children. And that’s what is making America healthy again.
And I think to focus on vaccines as a target and claim that they’re causing harms when they’re not is a detriment to America’s children.
WATCH:
Offit’s response: “I don’t have a relationship with a pharmaceutical company.”
He made millions when Merck sold RotaTeq, the rotavirus vaccine he co-invented. In 2008, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where Offit worked, sold its royalty stake in the vaccine for $182… pic.twitter.com/P1x3gchyHm
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) February 19, 2025
Pamela Brown desperately tried to pivot the discussion back to vaccines, ignoring the glaring failures of the public health system under Biden’s HHS. But Means refused to let her off the hook.
He boldly called out CNN for its blatant bias, pointing out that while the network obsesses over a handful of measles cases, it ignores the true epidemic plaguing America: chronic disease fueled by ultra-processed food and overmedication.
Pamela Brown:
And just to be clear, these are two separate issues. There are vaccines which are proven safe and effective, and we’re going to talk more about that. But then there’s the issue of chronic disease caused by the food that we’re consuming, processed food and all of that, which, as you both agree on, that needs to be dealt with.That needs to be a priority, of course, which is why, in many ways, RFK Junior has gained so much popularity among many Americans on that issue. But I want to go to you, Callie, to respond.
Also, with this measles threat, is it now a time to promote vaccines, which, again, the CDC says are safe and effective, that two doses are 90% effective against measles. Is it now a time to promote that, especially among children who are being impacted by measles in places like Texas and in these six states who are unvaccinated, according to health officials?
Callie Means:
Pamela, with respect, why aren’t you asking me about the fact that 50% of teens have obesity?Pamela Brown:
I have other questions for you, but we’re talking about this.Callie Means:
Day after day after day, Pamela, it’s breathless coverage of five measles cases. Why aren’t we asking why 16% of COVID deaths worldwide were Americans, when we were only 4% of the world population? Because the CDC said, our immune system? No, it is related, Pamela. And let me say why.Because the entire coverage of Bobby Kennedy is around measles. The Democrats said the word “measles” 25 times in the first hearing and said the words “obesity,” “diabetes,” and “chronic disease,” zero time.
The HHS priority document under President Biden said the word “equity” 25 times, said the word “vaccines” countless times, did not say the word “obesity” or “diabetes.” There is a problem right now because this is not zero. This is zero sum.
We are focused on a very small subsect that’s important. We need good infectious disease management. Bobby Kennedy, Dr. Offit, is not correct. Bobby Kennedy has said one thing about vaccines of one thing only, that they should be studied like any other product.
Dr. Offit, on the ASIP committee, has recommended vaccines that have ended up being recalled for causing mass issues to kids.
Bobby Kennedy has written multiple books, not about being anti-vax, but about having good science. And Dr. Offit is calling him anti-vaccine for literally just saying we need studies. Bobby Kennedy is not concerned with measles. He wants good policies with measles. He wants to attack the 92% of deaths in the United States, which is chronic conditions.
Pamela Brown:
Callie, look, we can talk about all of this. And I do want to talk about obesity. So don’t make a claim that I’m not asking about important things, because I’ve covered that on this show. I’ve covered the movement about Kellogg’s, what they’re trying to do with Kellogg’s, and trying to take food coloring out of Kellogg’s. I’ve actually been at the forefront of covering a lot of these issues. So please don’t make that claim.Callie Means:
I will say during COVID, CNN covered this as a pharmaceutical deficiency and did not talk about the metabolic links to COVID and how this really was a warning sign for our immune system. I agree, Pamela, you have covered this issue more than most, but there is a massive slant talking about measles rather than chronic conditions.
This is the second time Pamela Brown was called out live on TV after Rep. Tim Burchett destroyed her for being biased.
The truth is, CNN and the pharmaceutical-backed medical establishment don’t want to talk about the skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, and chronic illness—issues RFK Jr. has made central to his campaign. Instead, they cling to vaccine fear-mongering to keep the public distracted while Big Pharma rakes in billions.
Means laid out the undeniable truth: Merck, a pharmaceutical giant with a long history of criminal penalties for falsifying data, doesn’t profit when children are healthy—it thrives when they’re sick.
Callie Means:
This is what Bobby Kennedy is fighting against, Dr. Offit. As you know, you were the chair at the Children’s Hospital, the Merck chair. It was like a NASCAR driver wearing their sponsors. Merck paid your $1.5 million salary.And this is what Bobby is saying, is that fundamentally, pharma can create good innovations, but they’re foundationally incentivized for children to be sick. Pharma doesn’t make money when children are healthy.
The hospitals don’t make money when the beds are empty. Chronic disease, just as a demonstrable statement of economic fact, is a great economic invention for the healthcare industry, which demonstratively makes money when patients are sick. And that’s an incentive Bobby Kennedy is going hard after.
I’m in Florida. I’m in a state senator’s office right now. I’m actually lobbying for the state to get soda off of Snap. I think the problem is that the public health community, the Merck chairs of pediatricians, I mean, that is just insane. Merck does not have children’s interests at heart.
Merck itself has settled billions of dollars in criminal penalties for misleading and falsifying data in the past 10 years.
Caught red-handed, Offit did what every Big Pharma lackey does when confronted with facts—he played the victim. Instead of addressing his own financial conflicts, he lashed out, accusing Means and RFK Jr. of being “personal injury lawyer types” who “attack the witness” when they have no data.
Pamela Brown:
And by the way, for transparency, you used to be a pharmaceutical rep, right, Callie?Callie Means:
No, no, no. About 13 years ago, I was a lobbyist, which included lobbying for pharmaceuticals.Pamela Brown:
Right. Really quick, we do have to go. But Dr. Offit, I have to have you respond to his claims about Merck and your ties..Dr. Paul Offit:
What he does is what RFK Jr. does, which is what all personal injury lawyer types do, which is when the data aren’t on their side, then they attack the person.Callie Means:
I’m not a Merck chair.Pamela Brown:
Hold on, Callie. Let him talk. Callie, please.Dr. Paul Offit:
I don’t receive a… Okay, it’s it’s … I do not have a conflict of interest. The Merck chair is defined by a pen, and pen, there is no quid pro quo to having an endowed chair as anybody who receives an endowed chair would know.Secondly, it’s… Because there aren’t the data on their side regarding vaccines, they do what all personal injury lawyer types do, which is attack the witness. I’m not RFK Jr’s problem. The science that has continually shown he’s wrong about vaccines.
Callie Means:
He didn’t make millions of dollars.
You can watch the full video below:
Here’s the CNN Clip! pic.twitter.com/a8xAwGkSjM
— Beau Jarvis (@BeauJarvis13) February 19, 2025
The post MIC DROP: Dr. Paul Offit’s Attempt to Smear RFK Jr. Blows Up on CNN as Callie Means Exposes His Big Pharma Ties — Callie Also Calls Out CNN for Bias appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.