RFK Jr. Says Trump Has a ‘Different Way’ of Doing Math When Questioned About President’s False Claim He Cut Prescription Cost 600%

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill Wednesday, struggling to reconcile President Donald Trump’s claims of historic drug price “slashes” with the mathematical reality of current healthcare costs.

During a Senate hearing on April 22, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) challenged Kennedy on the President’s assertion that the “TrumpRx” platform reduced prescription costs by as much as 600%. Under standard mathematics, a reduction exceeding 100% would result in a negative price where the seller pays the buyer.

“President Trump has a different way of calculating,” Kennedy told the committee. He argued that dropping a drug price from $600 to $10 constitutes a “600% reduction.” In reality, such a price cut represents a 98.3% decrease.

The hearing coincided with a scathing report released Tuesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). The investigation found that while the administration touts savings, the pharmaceutical industry’s financial health has reached record highs.

According to the report, companies negotiating with the administration recorded $177 billion in profits in 2025, a 66% surge since Trump took office. Furthermore, these companies launched new medications at an average annual cost of $353,000 while simultaneously raising prices on existing prescriptions. Executive compensation within the sector also climbed 24% over the last year, totaling $346 million.

The investigative findings fueled a push for legislative intervention. On Thursday, Sanders introduced a bill requiring pharmaceutical companies to match the lower prices charged to European and Canadian consumers.

The measure gained rare bipartisan support from Republican Senators Susan Collins (ME), Dan Sullivan (AK), and Josh Hawley (MO). However, the bill failed to reach the 60-vote threshold necessary for passage, as the remainder of the GOP bloc voted in opposition.

Despite defending the administration’s rhetoric, Kennedy eventually conceded to the underlying data. Under questioning from Sanders, the HHS Secretary admitted that many drugs remain excluded from the administration’s current agreements.

Kennedy acknowledged that, despite the President’s claims of achieving the “lowest prices in the world,” American citizens continue to pay more for life-saving medication than any other nation on Earth.