Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy, wants to challenge Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination for the 2024 presidential election. As an Antivax activist, his candidacy embarrasses his own family.
Son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, nephew of assassinated former President John F. Kennedy, member of the US Democratic Party… and Antivax. Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the 2024 presidential election this Wednesday in Boston, USA.
In a shaky voice, he announced, “I came here today to announce my candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States,” and said his goal was “to stop the corruption of power in the United States end”. .
The 69-year-old politician founded a law firm specializing in environmental law and has been widely praised for his commitment to the environment, particularly on the issue of clean water in New York, and has been actively involved in the campaign to clean up the Hudson River. However, his candidacy is embarrassing even within his own family due to his very controversial positions on vaccines dating back several years. In particular, he supports the theory of the link between vaccination and autism.
Antivax guide during the Covid pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he became one of the leading figures in the Antivax movement, spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories on a massive scale. In January 2022, he was forced to apologize after comparing the restrictions put in place during the pandemic to the politics of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. He had also released a video showing US government public health adviser Anthony Fauci sporting a Hitler mustache.
In 2021, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, deleted the accounts of Children’s Health Defense, an organization chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for “repeated violations of our Covid-19 guidelines” because of fake news about it were spread pandemic.
Lack of family support
As a result, the Kennedy family, pillars of the American Democratic Party, have found themselves embarrassed. “It’s a difficult situation for me. I love my older brother Bobby. He has exceptional charisma and is a very gifted speaker,” Rory Kennedy, filmmaker and Robert Jr.’s brother, told CNN. “I admire his past as an environmentalist: thanks to him we can bathe in the Hudson. But because of Bobby’s wide range of positions, I support President Biden,” he said. While Joe Biden has announced his intention to seek re-election, he has not yet formalized his candidacy.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, eldest daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, a pensions advisor at the US Department of Labor and thus the big sister of the current presidential candidate, agrees. She even co-authored an article with another of her brothers, Joe P. Kennedy II, in 2019, in which they complained that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “had contributed to the spread of dangerous misinformation on social media and complicited in mistrust.” the science behind vaccines”.
However, the latter based part of his campaign argument on the fact that he was part of one of the “most famous families in American political history”. In particular, he chose to officially declare his candidacy for the presidential elections in Boston, an American city closely linked to the history of his family. President JFK was born in Brookline, an upscale suburb of Boston.