President Donald Trump said following Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's grilling by a Senate committee that "I like the fact that he's different."

Trump was pressed during a Sept. 4 White House event on whether he still has confidence in Kennedy, who faced blistering questions about his leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after he ousted the director and others at the agency left in protest of his leadership and controversial views on vaccines.

Trump said he didn't watch the hearing. He described Kennedy as "a very good person."

"And he means well, and he's got some little different ideas," Trump said. "He's got a different take and we wouldn't listen to all of those... but if you look at what's going on in the world with health, and look at this country also with regard to health, I like the fact that he's different."

There have been bipartisan concerns about the turmoil at the CDC.

"We need stability," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said during a Sept. 3 press conference. "He's in charge of the department, and he needs to restore public trust in the CDC."

During the hearing, Sen. Sen. John Barasso, R-Wyoming, said Kennedy promised during his confirmation "to uphold the highest standards for vaccines."

"Since then, I've grown deeply concerned," Barasso added.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, pressed Kennedy about how he could believe Trump deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for delivering the COVID-19 vaccine during his first term if he previously said the vaccine "killed more people" than the disease, which Kennedy denied saying.

“I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccine," Cassidy said.

Kennedy defended the CDC ousters during the hearing, arguing the agency failed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post after the hearing that Kennedy is "taking flak because he's over the target."

“The Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science," Leavitt added.

Contributing: Phillip Bailey, Adrianna Rodriguez, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Jay Stahl

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'I like the fact that he's different.’ Trump defends Kennedy after Senate grilling.

Reporting by Zac Anderson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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