Robert Kennedy wants to become US president: One man for all anti-vaxxers French coast guard rescues 78 people in the English Channel

When Robert F. Kennedy announced his candidacy in April 2023, it was already clear: he had no chance of becoming president of the US. But it has since become clear that while he won’t win, he could be a kingmaker. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, he has already gathered 15 percent of voters nationwide. With currently 39 percent for incumbent Joe Biden and 38 percent for Trump, any vote for Kennedy could influence who becomes president.

With the announcement of his vice-presidential candidate, Nicole Shanahan, he has now received strong support, which in many ways resembles him – and he could win more votes. The problem, however, is that there are major obstacles to actually appearing on the ballot in all fifty states. So far this is only certain in Utah.

Kennedy declared his primary goal when announcing his candidacy: “To end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power.” Because it not only ruins the American economy, but also pollutes nature and poisons children. “Together we can restore American democracy,” says the 69-year-old nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of the former attorney general of the same name.

Famous name, questionable views

Kennedy’s candidacy may seem quite attractive at first glance: the family name alone still has appeal far beyond America’s borders. Who is the man who has been committed to the environment for years – and at the same time has a large following among conspiracy theorists?

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. was born in the capital Washington in 1954 and grew up with ten brothers and sisters. His father, former Senator and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, also ran for Democratic presidential nomination – and was killed in an assassination attempt during the 1968 primaries. Robert Jr. later studied political science and law and pursued a career as a lawyer.

As such, Kennedy made an early name for himself because, long before the looming climate catastrophe was on everyone’s lips, he warned about the pollution of the planet and fought for clean water in court. Between 1986 and 2017 he worked at the environmental organization NRDC. This also earned him sympathy from the Greens in Europe and Germany: in 2018, Kennedy was a guest at a Greens event in the EU Parliament that discussed the risks of the pesticide glyphosate.

Yet Kennedy’s application did not cause a storm of cheers in liberal America, on the contrary: the 69-year-old is no longer known as an environmental activist, but as an aggressive opponent of vaccinations and conspiracy theorist. Steve Bannon, the right-wing extremist former advisor to Donald Trump, has been drumming for Kennedy for a long time, according to information from the CBS news channel. Because he is a “useful agent of chaos” to spread anti-vaccination campaigns across the country.

Big boost from Corona

Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism goes back a long way. Since the beginning of the new millennium, he has spread the false theory that childhood vaccinations can lead to autism. For this reason, he founded the “Children’s Health Defense” initiative, which warns about the alleged risks of vaccinations.

The corona pandemic then gave Kennedy and his initiative a boost: according to research by the AP news agency, the organization managed to more than double its turnover to 6.8 million dollars (the equivalent of about 6.2 million euros) in the pandemic year 2020. .

The organization used the money to promote its anti-vaccination campaign online. Kennedy was the figurehead of the initiative and provided political influence and a serious image. An analysis by the British Center for Countering Digital Hate identified Kennedy as one of the top sources spreading vaccine misinformation online.

Own family distances itself

As the pandemic progressed, Kennedy became increasingly radical: in 2021 he published the book ‘The Real Anthony Fauci’ about the top American immunologist and advisor to the president. In it, Kennedy accuses the scientist of participating in a ‘historic coup against Western democracies’. The same year, he was banned from the Instagram, Facebook and YouTube platforms due to his false claims.

However, Kennedy was a welcome guest at demonstrations against the Corona measures: in 2020 he also appeared at an event in Berlin initiated by the German ‘lateral thinking’ movement. There, Kennedy denounced not only vaccinations, but also the expansion of the 5G network, saying that society was in a phase that would lead to slavery. In January 2022, he gave a speech claiming that current conditions are worse than in Anne Frank’s time. The young woman was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945.

Even if Kennedy were to apologize for some of his Nazi comparisons, his chances of a successful campaign are likely slim to none. His family has not supported him unconditionally for a long time: “He has contributed to the spread of dangerous disinformation on social media and is complicit in sowing distrust in the science behind the vaccines,” several family members accused him in an open statement. letter for. The letter was published in 2019, when measles had not yet broken out in many US states, but rather measles.