JFK cousin with a flair for conspiracies: that’s how American politician Robert Kennedy Junior ticks

In March, he was still in doubt: “Help me decide whether to run for president,” asked Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. on his Twitter channel – with a call for a voluntary donation. If enough money comes together, he will apply to move to the White House.

His ultimate goal, according to Kennedy at the time: “End the corrupt fusion of state and corporate power.” Because it not only ruins the US economy, but also pollutes nature and poisons children. “Together, we can restore American democracy,” said the 69-year-old nephew of ex-President John F. Kennedy and son of the former attorney general of the same name.

The willingness to donate was apparently great. Kennedy officially submitted his bid for next year’s presidential election on Thursday. He is the second Democratic Party nominee, after author Marianne Williamson, to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden if he runs for reelection. Officially, the US president has not yet announced that he will run for office again. However, his candidacy is only a formality.

Famous names, questionable views

Kennedy’s candidacy may seem attractive at first glance: the surname alone has radiance far beyond American borders. Who is the man who has been strongly committed to the environment for years – and at the same time has a large following among conspiracy theorists?

Robert Francis Kennedy junior 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 the Democratic presidential nomination—and was assassinated in the 1968 primary. Robert junior later studied political science and law and pursued a career as a lawyer.

As such, Kennedy made a name for himself early on, as long before impending 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 for environmental organization NRDC. This also earned him sympathy with the Greens in Europe: in 2018, Kennedy was a guest at a Green Party event in the EU Parliament that dealt with the risks of the pesticide glyphosate.

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

Big boost due to Corona

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

The corona pandemic subsequently revived Kennedy and his initiative: according to research by the AP news agency, the organization more than doubled its turnover in the 2020 pandemic year to 6.8 million dollars (equivalent to about 6.2 million francs).

The organization used the money to advertise its anti-vaccination campaign online. Kennedy was the figurehead of the initiative, which provided political influence and a serious image. An analysis by Britain’s Center for Countering Digital Hate identified Kennedy as one of the leading sources of vaccine misinformation online.

My own family is distanced

Kennedy became increasingly radical as the pandemic progressed: 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 being involved in a “historic coup against Western democracies”. In the same year, he was banned from the Instagram, Facebook and YouTube platforms for his false claims.

On the other hand, Kennedy was a welcome guest at demonstrations against the corona measures: in 2021 he also appeared at an event in Berlin initiated by Swiss opponents of the corona measures. In January 2022, he gave a speech claiming that current conditions are worse than in the days of Anne Frank. The young woman was murdered in a concentration camp in 1945.

Even if Kennedy apologized for some of his Nazi comparisons, his chances of a successful campaign are probably close to zero. His family has not been unconditionally behind him for a long time: “He has helped spread dangerous disinformation on social media and is complicit in sowing distrust in the science behind the vaccines,” several of his relatives previously accused him in an open letter. The letter was published in 2019, when measles had not yet broken out in many US states. (t online)

Sources