Actress Cheryl Hines clashed with the co-hosts of The View Tuesday while defending her husband, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Hines appeared on the show to promote her upcoming memoir, Unscripted, but the conversation quickly shifted to her husband’s role in the Trump administration. RFK Jr., who once ran as a Democrat in the 2024 election before dropping out and endorsing President Trump, has drawn heavy criticism from liberal circles — including The View panel.
"Bobby’s background, everything I have seen him do, he has dedicated his career to suing big corporations because of toxins that have been affecting people’s health," Hines said, defending her husband’s record as an environmental lawyer.
But co-host Sunny Hostin pushed back. "Your husband is the least qualified Department of Health and Human Services head that we have had in history," she argued.
Hines objected, questioning how someone who studied toxins could be deemed less qualified than an economist to run the agency. Hostin doubled down, saying, "He has also spread a lot of misinformation, a lot of chaos, a lot of confusion, and I think it’s just a very dangerous thing."
"When you say misinformation, disinformation, we could go back to COVID," Hines replied. She brought up the shifting public health guidance during the pandemic, saying her husband had been censored for simply asking for proof of official claims.
Hostin interrupted again, mentioning that Kennedy had linked circumcision to autism. "May I finish?" Hines shot back, pointing out that health officials once claimed the vaccine would stop transmission — a statement later revised by the CDC.
The tension eased slightly when co-host Sara Haines praised Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, highlighting his push to remove toxic dyes and chemicals from food and baby formula. "I am very proud of Bobby," Hines said. "He has worked really hard to get petroleum-based food dyes out of our food. Even baby formula — we’re finding out there’s arsenic, there’s lead." She then turned to Hostin and asked pointedly, "Who was running HHS when they allowed lead and arsenic in baby formula? How is that person not dangerous?"
As the segment ended, Whoopi Goldberg surprised Hines by inviting her back. "Because we don’t often get people on this show who we can ask these questions to," Goldberg said.
"My husband was gonna come on, and I said, ‘Maybe don’t,’" Hines joked.
Goldberg laughed. "No, because if we can have the discussion back and forth, then people can decide what they believe. They’re not just hearing one side."