Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) suggested that his immediate praise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination as secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) was a way of trying to see the best in the situation.

“I was raised in a way where I try to look at the glass as half-full,” Polis said Friday when asked by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he thinks that Kennedy, an outspoken anti-vaccine activist, can separate his personal beliefs from his work.

The question was a nod at an interview Polis did with 9News, NBC’s Denver affiliate, earlier this week, where he asked, “Can he separate those incorrect personal beliefs from the work he does on chronic disease, nutrition, and taking on Big Pharma?”

Polis’s glass-half-full mindset comes as he’s been under fire for his initial praise of President-elect Trump choosing Kennedy to serve as HHS secretary.

“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA,” the governor wrote in a post on social platform X last week, referencing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

He received pushback from fellow Democrats like Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Colorado state Sen. Kyle Mullica.

A spokesperson for Polis told The Hill last week the governor “has not changed his view as a whole on RFK Jr.’s positions.”

“While opposed to RFK’s positions on a host of issues, including vaccines and banning fluoridation, he would appreciate seeing action on pesticides and efforts to lower prescription drug costs and if Trump is going to nominate someone like him then let them also take on soda, processed food, pesticides and heavy metals contamination. But he definitely does not endorse actions that would lead to measles outbreaks and opposes unscientific propaganda that undermines confidence in the lifesaving impact of vaccines,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding that Polis received the flu and COVID vaccines earlier this month.

During his CNN interview, Polis criticized Trump’s first-term HHS pick, Alex Azar, a lobbyist and pharmaceutical executive. Azar had come under fire in 2020 after his handling of the early days of COVID; Trump administration officials discussed replacing him as HHS secretary. Azar ultimately resigned in early 2021, mentioning the Capitol riot in his letter.

“Last time Donald Trump was president, he appointed a pharmaceutical lobbyist in charge of that agency: Alex Azar,” Polis said, criticizing what he described as a lack of progress on a number of health-related issues.

“I think it’s important, during the confirmation process to, of course, make sure that this is somebody who won’t make his personal utterings and sayings into official policy, but will pursue policies on behalf of the America people, so I try to remain optimistic where I can,” Polis later added.