Burcum: Why Tina Smith thinks RFK Jr. should ‘just shut up’ about antidepressants

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Minnesota U.S. Sen. Tina Smith offered her condolences after the tragic shooting that claimed two young lives at Annunciation Catholic Church and School. But then this petite grandmother served up something completely different: a spicy post on X, formerly Twitter, that carried the kick of a hot sauce made from the fiery Carolina Reaper pepper.

On the receiving end of her ire: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The day after the shooting, Kennedy went on Fox News. He suggested without evidence that a common type of antidepressant medications, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), could be contributing to violence like this. He also said — wrongly — that the medications have a black box warning about “homicidal ideation.”

Smith’s rapid response: “I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don’t kill kids, antidepressants do. Just shut up. Stop peddling bullshit. You should be fired.”

The post went viral and suggests that Smith, who will not run for re-election next year, will not serve out the rest of her term quietly. More fireworks erupted between her and Kennedy at a Sept. 4 Senate Finance Committee hearing.

I followed up with her on why she’s become one of RFK Jr.’s most outspoken congressional critics.

Smith: To me, the availability of mental health care for Minnesotans is deeply personal ... not only because of my own experience battling depression when I was younger, but because I’ve talked to so many young people about their own struggles and how important it is that they have access to the health care that they need. And so RFK Jr.’s slippery and unaccountable way of throwing out statements about the dangers of antidepressants with no evidence or backup infuriates me.

Q. Are you concerned that RFK Jr. could take a similar approach to antidepressants as he has with vaccines, to undermine them or limit access?

Smith: Well, I’m deeply concerned about that ... after the horrible shooting at Annunciation School, he went on Fox News and said he was launching a study to examine the linkage between psychotropic drugs, antidepressants and school shootings. And so that gives me great concern. Who’s going to do this study? Who’s even left at the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] to make sure that this study would be based on actual science? And let’s be clear. There has been research into the question of whether there’s any linkage. And that research has shown that there is no linkage.

Q. Does widespread use of SSRIs also deepen your concerns undermining confidence in them? The most recent official estimate is that 11.4% of Americans take a prescription medication for depression.

Smith: Yes ... and that number has grown [over time] pretty significantly and probably represents an increase in people’s needs and also an increase in access to treatment. And I can say as somebody who greatly benefited from SSRIs ... that it was such a help to me and kind of getting my brain wired correctly, working the way it needed to work so that I could get over that depression.

Smith: I had been ... immersed in the deeply personal tragedy that was unfolding at Annunciation School. And also thinking about what it’s like for these families to be thrust into the public eye in such a brutal way when they have just had this unimaginable loss. And so that’s where my brain and my heart were ... and then here’s RFK going on Fox News and saying this. I felt so angry [that] I needed to point out the hypocrisy of what it is that he was saying. And I was [also] thinking about what I wanted to say to the Annunciation parents compared to what he was basically saying. And that was the gist for the tweet that I wrote.

Q. What reaction have you gotten?

Smith: I can always tell when something [is] resonating with people or breaking through because people that I don’t even know will just come up and say something to me at the grocery store or walking around the lake or at the airport, and say some version of “You said what I was feeling.”

Q. Another viral moment came during the recent Senate Finance Committee hearing and RFK Jr. said you were making stuff up when you accused him of blaming school shootings on antidepressants. What was going through your head?

Smith: Well, he was, by saying that, illustrating my entire argument, which is that when he’s confronted with facts that don’t agree with his view of the world, he just says you’re making stuff up. And, of course the reason I had so much confidence in ... bringing that up is because we had the damn clip from him on Fox News saying exactly what I was saying that he said. So I wasn’t making it up. He was trying to get out of having any accountability.

Smith: Yes ... . He is a disaster to the department. He is doing damage that will take years to restore, recover from.

Q. If he doesn’t resign, what can be done to protect access to mental health prescription medications?