Robert Kennedy Jr. announces Democratic 2024 presidential bid
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine advocate and environmental lawyer, formally launched his bid for the Democratic 2024 presidential nomination on Wednesday.
The 69-year-old nephew of late President John F. Kennedy and son of former US attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy made the announcement at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston.
His wife, actress Cheryl Hines, introduced him on stage ahead of the announcement.
“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 on our country,” he said.
He joins self-help guru Marianne Williamson in a presidential primary against incumbent Joe Biden, who has said he plans on running again but has not formally announced a campaign.
Kennedy Jr. was once best known as an environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water.
However, in recent years he has emerged as one of the leading opponents of vaccines.
His anti-vaccine rhetoric only intensified after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of vaccines to protect against the virus.
Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine charity run by Kennedy Jr., more than doubled its revenues in 2020 to $6.8 million.
The anti-vaccination crusader has been booted off both Instagram and YouTube for spreading false information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
He has also repeatedly referred to Nazis and the Holocaust when speaking about measures that were taken to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus, such as vaccine and mask mandates.
RFK Jr.’s political aspirations have largely been shunned by many of his Kennedy relatives, who according to the family’s biographer Laurence Leamer, are “disgusted with his attitude.”
“They still care about him, but he’s an embarrassment,” Leamer said earlier this month soon after the Kennedy family scion revealed he was considering a White House run.
“If it looks like I can raise the money and mobilize enough people to win, I’ll jump in the race,” Kennedy Jr. wrote in a tweet. “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.”
With Post wires.
