Anti-Vaxxer RFK Jr. Takes Aim at Joe Biden in More Ways Than One
ON 4/6/23
President Joe Biden has gained another potential opponent for the 2024 presidential race.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, reported the Associated Press (AP). Kennedy is running as a Democrat.
Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and bestselling author, making a name for himself in the anti-vaccine movement, including launching the nonprofit Children's Health Defense, an activist group denouncing vaccine efficacy.
Kennedy has been particularly vocal since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of the COVID vaccine. In January 2022, he appeared as guest speaker at the Defeat the Mandates protest in Washington, D.C., a demonstration that coincided with other anti-vaccine protest groups that had ties with conspiracy theorist organizations like QAnon.
The Biden administration has already faced heavy attacks from House Republicans over allegedly censoring social media users from spreading misinformation, including on topics like the COVID-19 vaccine and Hunter Biden's laptop. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has also launched several investigations into the "weaponization" of the federal government, dedicating a new committee to the effort.
Biden has yet to announce if he is running for another term in 2024, although doing so could hypothetically pin him against former President Donald Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election. Spiritual adviser and author Marianne Williamson was the first major Democrat to launch her election campaign last month.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
President Joe Biden has gained another potential opponent for the 2024 presidential race.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission, reported the Associated Press (AP). Kennedy is running as a Democrat.
Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and bestselling author, making a name for himself in the anti-vaccine movement, including launching the nonprofit Children's Health Defense, an activist group denouncing vaccine efficacy.
Kennedy has been particularly vocal since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of the COVID vaccine. In January 2022, he appeared as guest speaker at the Defeat the Mandates protest in Washington, D.C., a demonstration that coincided with other anti-vaccine protest groups that had ties with conspiracy theorist organizations like QAnon.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, speaks during a protest against COVID-19 restrictions and government policy on August 29, 2020, in Berlin, Germany. Kennedy on Wednesday filed to run for the 2024 presidential election as a Democrat.
SEAN GALLUP/GETTY IMAGES
Last month, Kennedy, alongside the Children's Health Defense, took legal action against Biden and several other federal officials for allegedly encouraging platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google to censor "constitutionally protected speech." The 59 defendants in Kennedy's class-action suit include Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Andrew Slavitt, Biden's former senior COVID-19 adviser.
Kennedy is also suing the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the 120-page lawsuit, Kennedy argues that the federal government purposely suppressed "facts" that it "does not want the public to hear" on topics relating to COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election and the New York Post's 2020 article about Hunter Biden's laptop.
Kennedy also filed a lawsuit in January against the Trust News Initiative, launched by the BBC in partnership with several other media outlets to combat vaccine misinformation. The complaint—which lists the BBC, The Washington Post, Reuters and AP as defendants—alleges that these media organizations broke antitrust laws by working with companies like Twitter, Meta and Google, and claims that the media outlets "censored, de-monetized, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned, and/or excluded" other online news publishers listed as plaintiffs alongside Kennedy.
In 2021, Kennedy released the book The Real Anthony Fauci as an attack on the former top infectious-disease doctor, claiming that he enabled "a historic coup d'etat against Western democracy." He also released a book this year titled The Wuhan Cover-Up, which accuses U.S. officials of plotting with China to hide the origins of COVID-19.
Last month, Kennedy, alongside the Children's Health Defense, took legal action against Biden and several other federal officials for allegedly encouraging platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google to censor "constitutionally protected speech." The 59 defendants in Kennedy's class-action suit include Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Andrew Slavitt, Biden's former senior COVID-19 adviser.
Kennedy is also suing the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the 120-page lawsuit, Kennedy argues that the federal government purposely suppressed "facts" that it "does not want the public to hear" on topics relating to COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election and the New York Post's 2020 article about Hunter Biden's laptop.
Kennedy also filed a lawsuit in January against the Trust News Initiative, launched by the BBC in partnership with several other media outlets to combat vaccine misinformation. The complaint—which lists the BBC, The Washington Post, Reuters and AP as defendants—alleges that these media organizations broke antitrust laws by working with companies like Twitter, Meta and Google, and claims that the media outlets "censored, de-monetized, demoted, throttled, shadow-banned, and/or excluded" other online news publishers listed as plaintiffs alongside Kennedy.
In 2021, Kennedy released the book The Real Anthony Fauci as an attack on the former top infectious-disease doctor, claiming that he enabled "a historic coup d'etat against Western democracy." He also released a book this year titled The Wuhan Cover-Up, which accuses U.S. officials of plotting with China to hide the origins of COVID-19.
The Biden administration has already faced heavy attacks from House Republicans over allegedly censoring social media users from spreading misinformation, including on topics like the COVID-19 vaccine and Hunter Biden's laptop. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has also launched several investigations into the "weaponization" of the federal government, dedicating a new committee to the effort.
Biden has yet to announce if he is running for another term in 2024, although doing so could hypothetically pin him against former President Donald Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election. Spiritual adviser and author Marianne Williamson was the first major Democrat to launch her election campaign last month.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
BOSTON (AP) — Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his longshot bid to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination next year.
Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. launches presidential campaign
Kennedy, a member of one of the country’s most famous political families who has in recent years been linked to some far-right figures, kicked off his campaign in Boston on Wednesday and likened his campaign to the American revolution.
“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country,” Kennedy said.
Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also running for the Democratic nomination. Biden has said he's planning on running again but has not formally announced a campaign. He's expected to have a glide path to the nomination, with much of the Democratic establishment behind him.
Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother Robert F. Kennedy, both of whom he repeatedly referenced during his lengthy speech Wednesday.
Kennedy Jr. was once known most as an environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water. But over the past nearly two decades, he's become one of the leading voices of the anti-vaccine movement. His work has been described by members of his own family and public health experts as misleading and dangerous.
Related video: Watch: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign (Newsweek) Duration 1:03 View on Watch
His efforts intensified after the pandemic and development of the COVID-19 vaccine, and an AP investigation in 2021 showed he had linked up with anti-democratic figures and other groups. He has appeared at events pushing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and with people who cheered or downplayed the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A photo posted on Instagram showed Kennedy backstage at a July 2021 Reawaken America event with former President Donald Trump’s ally Roger Stone, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and anti-vaccine profiteer Charlene Bollinger. All three have promoted the lie about the 2020 election being stolen.
Kennedy has been a guest on Infowars, the channel run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and on the “War Room” podcast hosted by longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, where he promoted his bestselling 2021 book, “The Real Anthony Fauci,” in which he accused the U.S.’s top infectious disease doctor of participating in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy."
The AP documented how Kennedy and his anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense, had capitalized on the COVID-19 pandemic – raking in funding and followers in the U.S. and abroad, and doubling its revenue from 2019 to 2020. Researchers have found that the group is among the most influential spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation, and the AP found traffic to its website had soared.
In the second year of the pandemic, Children’s Health Defense continued its huge growth, according to a more recent filing with charity regulators in California. Revenue more than doubled from $7 million in 2020 to $16 million in 2021.
Facebook and Instagram removed the accounts of Children’s Health Defense for spreading misinformation.
Kennedy has repeatedly invoked Nazis and the Holocaust when talking about measures aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19, such as mask requirements and vaccine mandates. He has apologized for some of those comments, including when he suggested that people in 2022 were worse off than Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years.
Associated Press, The Associated Press
Robert F. Kennedy Jr's Chances of Beating Biden, According to Polls
Story by Katherine Fung • Yesterday
Robert F Kennedy Jr., speaks during a campaign event to launch his 2024 presidential bid, at the Boston Park Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2023.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his long-shot bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden is expected to run for re-election but has not made a formal announcement.
Polls show Biden has a double-digit lead over other possible candidates, except for one.
President Joe Biden has yet to officially announce that he's running for re-election, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is already challenging Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On Wednesday, Kennedy announced his long-shot bid for 2024 and launched his campaign from Boston, where he spoke about his father's 1968 campaign, his criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry and his career as an environmental lawyer in a nearly two-hour speech.
Kennedy, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former U.S. attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, has become well-known as a vocal anti-vaccine activist and leading proponent of COVID-19 misinformation.
Biden is expecting to make his own 2024 announcement soon and is widely expected to enter the primary as the clear favorite. Early polling shows the president with double-digit leads over other possible Democratic candidates, including Kennedy, self-help author and 2024 candidate Marianne Williamson, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Bernie Sanders and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
NewsweekWatch: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign
1:03
Cover MediaRobert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Running for President
1:23
DailymotionJFK’s nephew Robert F Kennedy Jr announces bid for presidential nomination
1:30
Although one recent poll showed that a number of Biden voters are prepared to swing to Kennedy, the president fares well in a hypothetical matchup against the political newcomer. The only name that could close that gap into single digits has been former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has not signaled any plans to run for the White House.
In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted Saturday through Tuesday, 14 percent of Biden's 2020 supporters said they would vote for Kennedy. Comparably, 67 percent of those voters said they would re-elect Biden, 13 percent remained undecided and 5 percent backed Williamson.
Despite there being an overwhelming number of voters who support a second Biden term, David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said that the survey indicates Democratic voters are receptive to another option.
"In 2020, Joe Biden received more votes than any other president in U.S. history, yet the poll tells us that those same voters are open to other Democrats to wage a spirited primary," Paleologos told USA Today. "Kennedy, although a long shot at this point, starts in double digits and can't be ignored."
Kennedy polled particularly well among 33 percent of Biden supporters who disapprove of Biden's job in the White House and the 35 percent who described Biden's policies as "too liberal."
In response to the poll, TV personality and daughter of the late Senator John McCain Meghan McCain tweeted, "RFK Jr. and all his lunacy antivaxx propaganda has enough support to make very interesting spoilers for Biden..."
However, a poll conducted by Morning Consult earlier this month showed slightly stronger odds for Biden, who had a 60-point lead over Kennedy, 70 to 10 percent. Four percent of those respondents chose Williamson.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
Story by Katherine Fung • Yesterday
Robert F Kennedy Jr., speaks during a campaign event to launch his 2024 presidential bid, at the Boston Park Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 19, 2023.
© Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his long-shot bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden is expected to run for re-election but has not made a formal announcement.
Polls show Biden has a double-digit lead over other possible candidates, except for one.
President Joe Biden has yet to officially announce that he's running for re-election, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is already challenging Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On Wednesday, Kennedy announced his long-shot bid for 2024 and launched his campaign from Boston, where he spoke about his father's 1968 campaign, his criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry and his career as an environmental lawyer in a nearly two-hour speech.
Kennedy, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former U.S. attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, has become well-known as a vocal anti-vaccine activist and leading proponent of COVID-19 misinformation.
Biden is expecting to make his own 2024 announcement soon and is widely expected to enter the primary as the clear favorite. Early polling shows the president with double-digit leads over other possible Democratic candidates, including Kennedy, self-help author and 2024 candidate Marianne Williamson, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Bernie Sanders and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
NewsweekWatch: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Announces 2024 Presidential Campaign
1:03
Cover MediaRobert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Running for President
1:23
DailymotionJFK’s nephew Robert F Kennedy Jr announces bid for presidential nomination
1:30
Although one recent poll showed that a number of Biden voters are prepared to swing to Kennedy, the president fares well in a hypothetical matchup against the political newcomer. The only name that could close that gap into single digits has been former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has not signaled any plans to run for the White House.
In a USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted Saturday through Tuesday, 14 percent of Biden's 2020 supporters said they would vote for Kennedy. Comparably, 67 percent of those voters said they would re-elect Biden, 13 percent remained undecided and 5 percent backed Williamson.
Despite there being an overwhelming number of voters who support a second Biden term, David Paleologos, the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said that the survey indicates Democratic voters are receptive to another option.
"In 2020, Joe Biden received more votes than any other president in U.S. history, yet the poll tells us that those same voters are open to other Democrats to wage a spirited primary," Paleologos told USA Today. "Kennedy, although a long shot at this point, starts in double digits and can't be ignored."
Kennedy polled particularly well among 33 percent of Biden supporters who disapprove of Biden's job in the White House and the 35 percent who described Biden's policies as "too liberal."
In response to the poll, TV personality and daughter of the late Senator John McCain Meghan McCain tweeted, "RFK Jr. and all his lunacy antivaxx propaganda has enough support to make very interesting spoilers for Biden..."
However, a poll conducted by Morning Consult earlier this month showed slightly stronger odds for Biden, who had a 60-point lead over Kennedy, 70 to 10 percent. Four percent of those respondents chose Williamson.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.
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