Robert Kennedy Jr.Photo: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.had made an official announcement that he’s running for President of the United States in 2024.
The 69-year-old nephew of late PresidentJohn F. Kennedyand son of late U.S. Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedyfiled paperwork with the Federal Election Commissionto run as a Democratic candidatefor president in 2024 in early April.
However, RFK Jr.’s decision to run for office has sparked a debate due to his long history of controversies. The former environmental lawyer and a longtime anti-vaccine conspiracist is one of the loudest voices behind the modern anti-vaccine movement.
The now-presidential candidate has previouslylobbied Congress to allow parents to opt outof state requirements for vaccinating their children, and a 2019 study found that his nonprofit, called Children’s Health Defense, had paid for more than half of the ads on Facebook that promoted false claims about vaccines,according toThe New York Times.
In recent years, RFK Jr. has courted controversy for criticizing former U.S. top infectious disease expert Dr.Anthony Fauci’s handling of the pandemic. In 2021, he published a book,The Real Anthony Fauci, accusing the doctor of promoting “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy.”
One of his younger sisters,Kerry, said in astatementthat shedoes not approveof RFK Jr.’s harmful views. More recently, in response to his candidacy, his youngest brother, Doug Kennedy, told PEOPLE that “not everyone agrees with his positions” despite his “immense political talent.”
RFK Jr.’s wife,Curb Your EnthusiasmactressCheryl Hines, has previously stated that she and her husband “differ on many current issues.” But regarding his current presidential pursuit, she “supports his decision.”
Here’s a timeline of some of RFK Jr.’s controversies over the years.
Sept. 22, 2015: A book with surprising claims about RFK Jr. is published
Robert Kennedy Jr.Pier Marco Tacca/Getty
Upon publication, RFK Jr. fired back at the allegations, deeming the book “a fictional inventory of unsubstantiated rumors and outright invention” on his website.
“[Jerry] Oppenheimer did not speak to me or any member of my family or any of my friends. The book is largely composed of unattributed quotes and scurrilous rumors cut-and-[pasted] from the most unreliable frontiers of the Internet,” he claimed.
“Friends say he still tries to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on most days,” theNew York Timesreported in February 2022.
Despite havingpromoted a documentary filmwhich purported to link autism to the vaccine preservative thimerosal and criticizing public health officials who argue against the claim, RFK Jr. said he and Trump were very “pro-vaccine.”
(Multiple large-scale studies have found that vaccines are safe.There is no scientific link between vaccines and autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control.)
At the time, theWashington Postreported that the announcement was met with alarm from health professionals who spoke of the dangers of putting a proponent of a conspiracy theory in a position of authority.
Ultimately,Trump never appointed RFK Jr. to chair a vaccine safety commission, despite their discussion in January 2017.
May 15, 2018: RFK Jr. publishes book with surprising details on his relationship with mom Ethel
Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Instagram
RFK Jr.’s book,American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family,revealed thathis relationship with his mother Ethelwas complex and fraught.
While RFK Jr. has grown to admire her “exceptional qualities,“he wrote that for years he was averse to his mother’s “tough love” approach and her tendency to divide “the world into friend and foe.”
“From my angle, her love didn’t always feel unconditional,” he wrote. “Her approach was what today people would call ‘tough love,’ for which I proved a tough audience. Her exceptional qualities were mainly invisible to me as a child.”
May 8, 2019: The Kennedy family says RFK Jr.’s vaccine stance is ‘wrong’ in op-ed
In recent years, members of the Kennedy family have spoken out against RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccination beliefs. In May 2019, three members of the famed American political family— Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy II and Maeve Kennedy McKean — wrote anop-ed in Politicodenouncing Kennedy Jr. for pushing anti-vaccination theories online.
“And his and others' work against vaccines is having heartbreaking consequences,“they continued. “The challenge for public health officials right now is that many people are more afraid of the vaccines than the diseases, because they’ve been lucky enough to have never seen the diseases and their devastating impact.”
June 13, 2019: RFK Jr. lobbies against California state pro-vaccine bill
John Lamparski/Getty
Nov. 14, 2019: Study finds RFK Jr.’s organization funded anti-vax ads on Facebook
Aug. 30, 2020: RFK Jr. rallies against Germany’s coronavirus restrictions
RFK Jr.spoke at a protestin Berlin to rally against Germany’s coronavirus restrictions, which he said was a form of “totalitarianism.”
Dec. 30, 2020: RFK Jr.’s niece speaks out against her uncle’s anti-vaccine stance
Robert F Kennedy Jr.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty
Robert F. Kennedy’s granddaughterspoke out against her uncle, RFK Jr., and his controversial stance on COVID-19 vaccinations. “I love my uncle. But when it comes to vaccines, he is wrong,” Dr. Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, a granddaughter of the late RFK, wrote in aNew York Timesop-edpiece.
Feb. 12, 2021: Instagram bans RFK Jr. after spreading false anti-vaccine claims
Instagram banned RFK Jr. from its platform for repeatedly sharing false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” Facebook, which owns Instagram, said in a statement.
Despite his efforts to discredit vaccines, RFK Jr. has said that he is not against safe vaccines and has vaccinated his children. His Facebook page, though, isfilled with posts with vaccine misinformation.
In a statement to PEOPLE, RFK Jr. defended the content he shares online anddoubled down on his false assertionthat vaccines are being “hastily” created. However, all vaccines currently available for use, including the COVID-19 vaccines, have undergone large clinical trials and extensive analysis to ensure that they are safe.
Meanwhile, RFK Jr. claimed in his statement that his removal from Instagram is “a formula for catastrophe and a coup d’état against the First Amendment.”
November 2021: RFK Jr. publishes book criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci’s handling of COVID-19
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking at a protest against Germany’s coronavirus restrictions.Sean Gallup/Getty
RFK Jr. criticized the U.S. government and U.S. former top infectious disease expert Dr.Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hereleased a 2021 bookcalledThe Real Anthony Faucithat accused the doctor of assisting in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy,” per theNYT.
Jan. 24, 2022: RFK Jr. makes offensive Anne Frank comparison and his wife speaks out
RFK Jr. compared his anti-vaccine convictions to the plight of Anne Frank at an anti-vaccine rally in Washington, D.C. — and his wife,Cheryl Hines, responded to a Twitter post.
“Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” Kennedy Jr. said at the rally. “Today the mechanisms are being put in place so none of us can run and none of us can hide.”
The following day, Hines replied to a Twitter user who tagged her and said she needed to make a statement. “Do you stand with your husband?” the user asked. To which shereplied, “My husband’s opinions are not a reflection of my own. While we love each other, we differ on many current issues.”
Hines subsequently posted several tweets on the controversy, some in response to users who asked her to be more specific about where she stood.
“My husband’s reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive,” she wrote in one post. “The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own.”
Jan. 25, 2022: RFK Jr. apologizes for Anne Frank reference in anti-vaccine speech
Upon facing backlash from the public,and his sister, Kerry Kennedyfor his offensive comparison to Anne Frank during his anti-vaccine speech,RFK Jr. issued an apology.
“I apologize for my reference to Anne Frank, especially to families that suffered the Holocaust horrors,” he wrote onTwitter. “My intention was to use examples of past barbarism to show the perils from new technologies of control. To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry.”
March 10, 2023: RFK Jr. asks Twitter if he should run for President of the United States
RFK Jr. alluded that he would run for the office in a tweet asking people to “help me decide whether to run for president.”
“If it looks like I can raise the money and mobilize enough people to win, I’ll jump in the race,” he tweeted. “If I run, my top priority will be to end the corrupt merger between state and corporate power that has ruined our economy, shattered the middle class, polluted our landscapes and waters, poisoned our children, and robbed us of our values and freedoms.”
April 6, 2023: RFK Jr. declares his U.S. President candidacy
RFK Jr. made thedecision to run for presidentin 2024. He filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commissionto run as a Democratic candidatefor president next year. His father was assassinated while seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.
Shortly after RFK Jr. revealedplans to challengePresident Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, several ofthose close to him have weighed inon his political aspirations, including two of his siblings.
His younger sister,Kerry, who works to carry on the legacy of her late politician father, Robert F. Kennedy, said in astatementthat the advocacy organizationRFK Human Rights, which she has run since 1988, does not approve of RFK Jr.’s harmful views.
April 19, 2023: Cheryl Hines states she’s in ‘support’ of husband RFK Jr.’s decision to run for president
While several of RFK Jr.’s family members vocalized opposition to his presidential pursuit, his wifeCheryl said she supports her husband’s decisionto run for president and issued a statement on April 19, the same dayhe made an official announcementregarding his 2024 campaign.
April 19, 2023: RFK Jr. acknowledges that some of his family members ‘plain disagree’ with his views
Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attend Barron & Tessa Hilton Host GODDESS Art Show on April 28, 2022 in Bel Air, California.Jon Kopaloff/Getty
RFK Jr. acknowledged that he and his family members don’t always see eye-to-eye, noting in his first official press conference as a presidential candidate that some of them"just plain disagree"with his views.
He also acknowledged that his family members have “long personal relationships” with President Biden, who is also expected to run for the presidency in 2024.
“My whole family including myself have long personal relationships with President Biden … and many of them just plain disagree with me on issues like censorship and war and public health,” RFK Jr. added. “They are entitled to their beliefs…and I love them back.”
source: people.com
