¶ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (often referred to as RKF Jr. or simply RFK) is an American lawyer, author, and activist in the areas of environment and public health. After running for president in the 2024 United States presidential election, Kennedy was selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).[1]
He is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, nephew of President John F. Kennedy, cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr.,[2] and father-in-law of Amaryllis Fox Kennedy.[3]
He holds a number of professional positions including Chairman of the board and Chief Legal Counsel for Children's Health Defense (on leave), board member of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, attorney at JW Howard Attorneys, partner at Kennedy & Madonna, member of Kenviron Consulting, and consultant for the Marwood Group, Skyhorse Publishing, Morgan & Morgan (M&M), and Wisner Baum.[4] He is also a venture partner at VantagePoint Capital Partners (VPCP).[5][6]
¶ History
Kennedy was born in 1954.[7] He was at Georgetown Preparatory School when his father was shot, and was informed on June 6, 1968 that he had died. He was a pallbearer at his father's funeral alongside Robert McNamara and astronaut John Glenn.[7:1]
Kennedy joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 1986 as an attorney.[8]
Kennedy flew on the private airplane of Jeffrey Epstein in 1993.[9]
RFK Jr. joined the World Mercury Project in 2015, becoming board chairman and chief legal counsel.[10] He left NRDC in 2017.[8:1]
The World Mercury Project rebranded to Children's Health Defense in 2018, announcing an expanded focus on combatting chronic childhood diseases.[10:1]
¶ COVID-19
In August 2020, Kennedy participated in an Instagram Live discussion with Alec Baldwin on the topics of vaccine safety, thimerosal and lockdown measures for COVID-19.[11]
On November 9, 2020, Kennedy interviewed David Martin on the subject of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.[12]
On January 23, 2021, Clarke Humphrey (Digital Director of the White House COVID-19 Response Team) e-mailed Twitter to request the removal of one of RFK's tweets.[13][14]
On March 24, 2021, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Anti-Vax Watch published a report titled "The Disinformation Dozen: Why platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers." RFK was included as one of the members of the so-called "Disinformation Dozen," described as sharing misinformation about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy as well as the death of Hank Aaron.[15]
RFK Jr.'s book, The Real Anthony Fauci, was published by Skyhorse Publishing and Children's Health Defense on November 16, 2021.[16]
In August 2022, RFK Jr. hosted a discussion with Jeffrey Sachs on the topic of the origins of SARS-CoV-2.[17]
¶ 2024 presidential election
Kennedy ally Steve Kirsch hinted during a December 2021 appearance on the Alex Jones Show that RFK may consider running for president.[18]
Kirsch started officially discussing his intentions to create a Super PAC to “draft” Kennedy to run for President as early as January 2023, announcing as much on a January 23 livestream of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF) alongside Robert Malone.[19] He followed this up with a February 13 article on his Substack titled “I'm forming a Super PAC to Draft RFK Jr. to run for President,” requesting volunteers.[20]
In late January 2023, RFK Jr. spoke with Denis Rancourt on the topic of all-cause mortality associated with the COVID-19 crisis.[21]
On March 11, 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. published an article on his Substack newsletter calling for funding and volunteers to explore the viability of running for President of the United States.[22] The statement coincided with the third anniversary of the World Health Organization's declaration that COVID-19 was officially considered a pandemic.[23]
On March 24, 2023, RFK, Connie Sampognaro and Children's Health Defense filed a class action lawsuit against a number of top-ranking officials in the United States Federal Government including Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci, alleging they “waged a systematic, concerted campaign” to compel the nation’s three largest social media companies to censor constitutionally protected speech.[24]
On June 19, 2023, YouTube removed an interview between Kennedy and Jordan Peterson for "vaccine misinformation."[25]
On June 28, 2023, YouTube removed a Fox News interview between RFK Jr. and Al Guart.[26]
He submitted his financial disclosure form to the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) on June 30, 2023.[27][4:1]
On July 11, 2023, Kennedy participated in a dinner with members of the press during which he commented that "COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately," with the SARS-CoV-2 virus possibly having been developed as an "ethnically targeted" biological weapon. He remarked that "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people," and "the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese."[28] After being accused of antisemitism, Kennedy clarified that he did not believe "that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered," and accused the New York Post of misrepresenting his claims.[29]
James Lyons-Weiler published an article on July 17, 2023 expanding on the scientific basis behind Kennedy's comments, based on a peer-reviewed paper published June 30, 2022.[30]
RFK testified before the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on July 20, 2023.[13:1]
On August 2, 2023, Kennedy filed a 27-page lawsuit against YouTube and its parent company, Google, for censoring his videos related to vaccines. He accused the companies of violating the First Amendment to the United States Constitution on behalf of the United States Federal Government.[31]
On December 21, 2023, Kennedy was selected to receive PolitiFact's 2023 Lie of the Year award for building a campaign that "seeks to legitimize conspiracy theories."[32][33]
Kennedy was initially scheduled to appear at RePlatform Las Vegas in March 2024, but cancelled in mid-February.[34]
On February 14, 2024, Judge Terry A. Doughty of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana granted Kennedy a preliminary injunction against the White House and other federal defendants in his lawsuit "alleging government censorship of his statements against vaccines on social media." The injunction was stayed pending a ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States on Murthy v. Missouri.[35]
On February 21, 2024, Kennedy filed a lawsuit against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, challenging the state's restrictions on candidates collecting signatures at polling places during the presidential primary in May.[36]
On March 29, 2024, lawyer Aaron Siri wrote a letter on behalf of Kennedy to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, describing the United States Department of Homeland Security's fifth refusal to provide Kennedy with Secret Service protection as "capricious, an abuse of discretion, and clearly politically motivated."[37]
On May 13, 2024, Kennedy and American Values 2024 filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Meta Platforms, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and ten unnamed defendants after the social media platform censored a film called Who Is Bobby Kennedy, released May 3.[38][39]
In late May 2024, Kennedy was announced as a participant in the Independent National Convention 2024.[40]
On May 29, 2024, Kennedy lawyer Lorenzo Holloway filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging that CNN was colluding with the campaigns of Joe Biden and Donald Trump to exclude him from a debate scheduled for June 27.[41]
On July 15, 2024, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social that Kennedy should be granted Secret Service protection. Around the same time, Trump and Kennedy met at the 2024 Republican National Convention "to discuss national unity." Shortly afterwards, secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas announced that President Biden had ordered him to provide Kennedy Secret Service protection.[42]
Kennedy withdrew from the Independent National Convention 2024 in mid-September.[43]
On November 14, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had chosen Kennedy as secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.[1:1]
¶ Publications
- June 30, 2023: Financial Disclosure
¶ Books
- May 15, 2018: American Values: Lessons I Learned From My Family
- November 16, 2021: The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health
- December 5, 2023: The Wuhan Coverup: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race
¶ External links
¶ Further reading:
- March 15, 2024: "The New York Times’ Kennedy Problem, and Other Inconvenient Truths" by Liam Sturgess, published by The Kennedy Beacon
- May 3, 2024: "Could Bobby’s Tokenized Environmental Markets Really Be About Using Web3 to Game Quantum Mechanics?" by Alison McDowell
Collins, K., Holmes, K., & Pellish, A. (2024, November 14). Trump picks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his Department of Health and Human Services secretary. CNN. http://archive.today/2024.11.14-210312/https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/robert-f-kennedy-donald-trump-hhs/index.html ↩︎ ↩︎
Kennedy Jr., R. F. (2018). American Values: Lessons I Learned From My Family. Harper Luxe, An Imprint Of Harpercollins Publishers. https://amzn.to/3KakBOW ↩︎
Alonzo, A. (2023, November 27). RFK Jr. Has Millions on Hand to Fund 2024 Independent Run. The Epoch Times. http://archive.today/2023.11.27-172117/https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/rfk-jr-has-millions-on-hand-to-fund-2024-independent-run-5535509 ↩︎
Kennedy Jr., R. F. (2023, June 30). Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e). CNBC; United States Office of Government Ethics. https://web.archive.org/web/20230721212701/https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2023/07/07/Candidate_Report_RFK_Jr.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. VantagePoint Capital Partners. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.04.20-153027/https://vpcp.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/ ↩︎
Craig, S. (2023, November 16). How R.F.K. Jr. Has Turned His Public Crusades Into a Private Windfall. The New York Times. http://archive.today/2023.11.19-163353/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/us/rfk-jr-finances.html ↩︎
Griffiths, B. D. (2024, May 22). How RFK Kennedy Jr. turned from tragedy and tumult to environmentalism before becoming the face of vaccine skepticism. Business Insider. http://archive.today/2024.05.23-185014/https://www.businessinsider.com/rfk-jr-early-life-father-assassination-career-environmentalism-vaccines-wives ↩︎ ↩︎
Lord, D. (2018, June 5). Robert Kennedy assassination: What happened to RFK’s children after he was killed? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. http://archive.today/2023.05.08-221611/https://www.ajc.com/news/national/robert-kennedy-assassination-what-happened-rfk-children-after-was-killed/Nu7ndfLSIy7FHbE5tCCgTN/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Vincent, I. (2023, December 8). Newly revealed 1994 photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with Jeffrey Epstein raises new questions about relationship between politician and the pedophile. New York Post. http://archive.today/2023.12.08-192229/https://nypost.com/2023/12/08/news/pictured-robert-f-kennedy-jr-and-jeffrey-epstein/ ↩︎
Smith, M. R. (2021, December 15). How a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19. AP News. https://web.archive.org/web/20211215135523/https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-entertainment-business-health-public-health-4997be1bcf591fe8b7f1f90d16c9321e ↩︎ ↩︎
Merlan, A. (2020, August 6). Alec Baldwin Just Did an Hour-Long Instagram Chat with an Anti-Vaccine Activist. VICE. https://web.archive.org/web/20201023013031mp_/https://www.vice.com/en/article/ep4q8e/alec-baldwin-just-did-an-hour-long-instagram-chat-with-an-anti-vaccine-activist ↩︎
David E. Martin on Fauci, Moderna. (2020, November 9). CHD.TV; Children’s Health Defense. https://web.archive.org/web/20231227213517/https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/truth-with-robert-f-kennedy-jr/david-e-martin-on-fauci-moderna/ ↩︎
Kennedy, Jr, R. F. (2023, July 20). Congressional Testimony of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government; House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. https://web.archive.org/web/20230721221320/https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/kennedy-testimony.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
Creitz, C. (2023, July 12). RFK Jr: “I was the first person censored by the Biden administration.” Fox News. https://web.archive.org/web/20230721222210/https://www.foxnews.com/media/rfk-jr-was-first-person-censored-by-the-biden-administration ↩︎
The Disinformation Dozen: Why platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers. (2021, March 24). Center for Countering Digital Hate. https://web.archive.org/web/20230706110831/https://counterhate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/210324-The-Disinformation-Dozen.pdf ↩︎
Kennedy Jr., R. F. (2021). The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health. Skyhorse. https://amzn.to/3rI1NR2 ↩︎
“The Defender Show” Episode 64: The Origins of COVID-19 With Jeffrey Sachs. (2022, August 20). Jeffrey D. Sachs. https://web.archive.org/web/20220909031837/https://www.jeffsachs.org/interviewsandmedia/42e9ferc84jsdc3h76srlypk5mztfl ↩︎
Gibson, R. (2021, December 29). ALEX JONES [3 of 4] Wednesday 12/29/21 • STEVE KIRSCH, News, Reports & Analysis. BitChute; InfoWars. https://www.bitchute.com/video/fqtfvQLdFOqy/ ↩︎
Vaccine Safety Research Foundation. (2023, January 26). Full Episode #64: “Defeat the Mandates Anniversary” with Robert Malone, MD. Rumble. https://web.archive.org/web/20230222180536/https://rumble.com/v27aicu-full-episode-64-defeat-the-mandates-anniversary-with-robert-malone-md.html ↩︎
Kirsch, S. (2023, February 13). I’m forming a Super PAC to Draft RFK Jr. to run for President. Substack. http://archive.today/2023.07.21-201219/https://kirschsubstack.com/p/im-forming-a-super-pac-to-draft-rfk ↩︎
All Cause Mortality With Denis Rancourt, Ph.D. (2023, January 26). Children’s Health Defense. https://web.archive.org/web/20230128221132/https://live.childrenshealthdefense.org/chd-tv/shows/the-defender-show/all-cause-mortality-with-denis-rancourt-phd/ ↩︎
Kennedy, Jr., R. F. (2023, March 11). Help me decide whether to run for President. Substack. https://web.archive.org/web/20230311211211/https://robertfkennedyjr.substack.com/p/robert-kennedy-jr-run-for-president ↩︎
Kolade, S. (2023, March 11). The World Remembers COVID-19 as Pandemic Marks Third Anniversary. The Michigan Chronicle. https://web.archive.org/web/20230311211535/https://michiganchronicle.com/2023/03/11/the-world-remembers-covid-19-as-pandemic-marks-third-anniversary/ ↩︎
Baletti, B. (2023, March 27). Breaking: RFK, Jr. and CHD Sue Biden, Fauci for Alleged Censorship. Children’s Health Defense. http://archive.today/2023.03.28-004347/https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/lawsuit-rfk-jr-chd-biden-free-speech/ ↩︎
Ingram, D., & Goggin, B. (2023, June 19). YouTube removes video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jordan Peterson for vaccine misinformation. NBC News. http://archive.today/2023.06.21-070740/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/youtube-removes-video-rfk-jr-jordan-peterson-misinformation-rcna90060 ↩︎
Keene, H. (2023, June 28). YouTube censors another RFK Jr interview; Kennedy says platform protecting political establishment. FOX News. https://web.archive.org/web/20230721212523/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/another-rfk-jr-interview-taken-down-youtube-knows-what-censor-without-being-told ↩︎
Schwartz, B. (2023, July 7). RFK Jr. touted bitcoin but said he wasn’t an investor. Financial records show otherwise. CNBC. http://archive.today/2023.07.10-100619/https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/07/rfk-jr-bitcoin-investment-raises-ethics-concerns.html ↩︎
Levine, J. (2023, July 15). RFK Jr. says COVID was “ethnically targeted” to spare Jews. New York Post. http://archive.today/2023.07.17-221200/https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/rfk-jr-says-covid-was-ethnically-targeted-to-spare-jews/ ↩︎
Helsel, P. (2023, July 15). RFK Jr. pushes back on report he said Covid-19 was ethnically targeted to spare Jews. NBC News. http://archive.today/2023.07.16-074410/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/rfk-jr-pushes-back-report-said-covid-was-targeted-spare-jews-rcna94440 ↩︎
Lyons-Weiler, J. (2023, July 17). Genetic Variation Across Human Populations Influences SARS-COV-2 Binding Capacity for ACE2 Receptors. Popular Rationalism; Substack. http://archive.today/2023.07.17-231719/https://popularrationalism.substack.com/p/genetic-variation-across-human-populations ↩︎
Hurley, B. (2023, August 4). RFK Jr sues “state actors” YouTube and Google for censoring him. The Independent. http://archive.today/2023.08.04-190827/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rfk-jr-sues-google-youtube-b2387644.html ↩︎
Keller, J. (2023, December 27). Keller @ Large: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wins “Lie of the Year” award. CBS Boston. https://web.archive.org/web/20231227210333/https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/politifact-lie-of-the-year-rfk-jr-covid-vaccine-keller-at-large/ ↩︎
Czopek, M., & Sanders, K. (2023, December 21). PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign of conspiracy theories. Poynter. https://web.archive.org/web/20231227212327/https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/politifacts-2023-lie-of-the-year-robert-f-kennedy-jr-s-campaign-of-conspiracy-theories/ ↩︎
Butler, K. (2024, February 8). RFK Jr. is (no longer) planning to speak at a conference featuring a guy who talks about Jews controlling the world. Mother Jones. http://archive.today/2024.02.15-184448/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/02/rfk-jr-anti-vaxxers-replatform-conference-world-control-cancelled/ ↩︎
Hayes, P. (2024, February 15). RFK Jr. Wins Deferred Injunction in Vax Social Media Suit (1). Bloomberg Law. https://web.archive.org/web/20240215190256/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/rfk-jr-wins-deferred-injunction-in-anti-vax-social-media-suit ↩︎
Bartow, A. (2024, February 22). Presidential candidate sues Maine Secretary of State, calls her a “partisan hack.” WMTW. http://archive.today/2024.02.25-201540/https://www.wmtw.com/article/presidential-candidate-rfk-robert-kennedy-sues-maine-secretary-state-shenna-bellows-partisan-hack/46908334 ↩︎
Kuchar, S., & Looker, R. (2024, April 11). “An abuse of discretion”: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. responds to latest Secret Service denial. USA Today. https://web.archive.org/web/20240412164008/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/04/11/rfk-jr-secret-service-protection-response/73286937007/ ↩︎
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and American Values 2024 vs. Meta et al. (2024). United States District Court for the Northern District of California. https://web.archive.org/web/20240513194440/https://assets.nationbuilder.com/joinkennedy/pages/13783/attachments/original/1715624356/lawsuit-meta-kennedy-censorship.pdf ↩︎
Poritz, I. (2024, May 13). RFK Jr. Sues Meta, Says Presidential Campaign Video Censored (2). Bloomberg Law. http://archive.today/2024.05.14-002145/https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/rfk-jr-sues-meta-says-presidential-campaign-video-was-censored ↩︎
Metzger, H. (2024, May 28). Independent National Convention, RFK Jr. Coming to Denver in September. Westword. https://web.archive.org/web/20240920044946/https://www.westword.com/news/independent-national-convention-rfk-jr-to-denver-september-20810813 ↩︎
Cooper, J. J. (2024, May 29). Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files complaint over rules for CNN’s presidential debate next month. AP News. https://web.archive.org/web/20240604195550/https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-cnn-debate-fec-complaint-1f08f1af8a5201fe78725bd883634dc8 ↩︎
O’Brien, R. D., & Schleifer, T. (2024, July 15). Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Meets With Trump at the R.N.C. The New York Times. https://archive.is/2024.07.16-085244/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/us/politics/rfk-jr-trump-rnc.html ↩︎
Metzger, H. (2024, September 17). RFK Jr. Pulls Out of Independent National Convention in Denver. Westword. https://web.archive.org/web/20240920044915/https://www.westword.com/news/rfk-jr-pulls-out-of-independent-national-convention-in-denver-21968010 ↩︎