RFK Jr. Defends Donald Trump's Bogus Calculations

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, April 22, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended President Donald Trump's mathematically impossible drug price calculations by stating there are "two ways of calculating percentages.”

Kennedy’s defense centers on the administration's TrumpRx program, which the president has illogically claimed reduced some drug prices by as much as 600 percent to 1,500 percent.

RFK Jr. argued that if a drug price drops from $600 to $10, it constitutes a "600 percent reduction.”

“President Trump has a different way of calculating if — there’s two ways of calculating percentage,” said Kennedy. “If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that’s a six hundred percent reduction.”

Kennedy maintained that Trump uses a "different way of calculating" that is not based on traditional percentage formulas.

In standard arithmetic, a price drop from $600 to $10 is a 98.33 percent reduction.

Mathematicians and fact-checkers at the Associated Press have noted that any reduction above 100 percent would mathematically indicate that the pharmaceutical company is paying the consumer to take the medication.

During the hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) challenged the effectiveness of the TrumpRx program, noting that some drugs on the federal TrumpRx site are more expensive than at private retailers; for instance, the drug Protonix was listed for $200 on TrumpRx but was available for $16 at Costco.

“The president pitched his Trump RX website as the answer for Americans who are worried about healthcare costs. He claims that Trump RX has reduced prices by as much as six hundred percent. Six hundred percent, which I think means companies should be paying you to take their drugs. But, let’s do some real math here,” Warren suggested.

“Take one drug, Protonix. A thirty-day supply of this heartburn medication costs $200 on Trump RX, but there is an identical generic version of this pill called Pantoprazole. Secretary Kennedy, do you know how much it costs for a thirty-day supply of that drug at Costco?” she asked.

Kennedy had no idea that the cost was just $16.

Kennedy declined to provide the written agreements with pharmaceutical companies to the committee, citing "proprietary information and trade secrets.”

Despite the mathematical criticism, Kennedy maintained that millions of Americans who use the service benefit from it and that the administration's "courage" in confronting the pharmaceutical lobby led to these lower prices.

Critics and experts say the impact is likely limited, with some research indicating users could pay more than generic alternatives or that savings do not apply to most insured Americans.