Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr files to run for president

The environmental lawyer previously had to apologise for comparing vaccine mandates to Holocaust

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Friday 07 April 2023 11:48 BST
Comments
Robert F Kennedy Jr says unvaccinated have less freedom than Anne Frank did

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr, the son of assassinated presidential candidate Robert Kenedy and nephew of John F Kennedy, has filed to run for president in 2024 as a Democrat.

Mr Kennedy, 69, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission after announcing last month he was considering a run against Joe Biden, according to RawStory.

His late father was a former New York senator, US attorney general and 1968 presidential candidate, who was shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles in June 1968.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has had to apologise for comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust
Robert F Kennedy Jr has had to apologise for comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust (AP)

“If it looks like I can raise the money and mobilize enough people to win, I’ll jump in the race,” Mr Kennedy Jr tweeted last month.

“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. Together we can restore America’s democracy.”

Mr Kennedy Jr’s views on vaccines have been strongly criticised by Dr Anthony Fauci, who said in 2021 that the inflammatory rhetoric of the conspiracy theorist and others had “accelerated” violent threats and abuse directed at him and his family.

Mr Kennedy Jr, who leveraged his ties to the political family dynasty to lend his anti-vaccine campaign credibility and to draw fundraisers, recently published The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, in which he accuses the nation’s medical chief of launching “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy”.

And in 2022 he was forced to apologise for referring to Anne Frank during an anti-vax rant comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust.

Mr Kennedy claimed imposing vaccine passports was similar to the extermination policies of Nazi Germany in a speech at an anti-vax protest march in Washington DC in January 2022.

“Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did,” he told the crowd. Those remarks provoked widespread condemnation.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in