Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign for the 2024 United States presidential election on April 19, 2023. An environmental lawyer, writer, and member of the Kennedy family, he is known for advocating anti-vaccine misinformation  and public health–related conspiracy theories. He is challenging incumbent president Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination.

Kennedy has received significant support from outside the Democratic Party. Considered an underdog, Kennedy has often polled around the low double digits. Reaction to Kennedy's campaign from his extended family has been overwhelmingly negative.

Background

Kennedy is a member of the Kennedy family, four of whom have previously run for the United States presidency. His uncle, John F. Kennedy, was elected president as a Democrat in 1960 after a successful presidential campaign. In subsequent decades, several other family members sought the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but have failed to be nominated. His father and namesake, Robert F. Kennedy, ran a campaign for the nomination in 1968, but he was assassinated before the party's nominating convention. His uncle-by-marriage, Sargent Shriver, ran for the nomination in 1976, but later withdrew from the race. His uncle, Ted Kennedy, ran a campaign for the nomination in 1980, but was defeated in the primaries by incumbent president Jimmy Carter.

Campaign

Announcement

On March 3, 2023, in a speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, Kennedy stated that he was considering a run for president in 2024. YouTube later took down a video of the speech, citing medical misinformation. On April 5, 2023, he filed his candidacy. He formally declared his candidacy at a campaign launch event at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston on April 19, 2023. He chose Boston for his launch because of his family's deep political roots in the city, and referenced in his speech that he graduated from both high school and college in Massachusetts.

Financing 
Kennedy has garnered financial backing from Republicans associated with former President Donald Trump. An analysis of the June 30, 2023 campaign finance filings shows that of the individuals who contributed at or near the maximum, those with Republican histories exceeded those with Democratic histories. About fifty percent of the total funds raised by American Values 2024, the super PAC that is supporting Kennedy's campaign, were contributed by Timothy Mellon, a longtime Republican mega-donor and Trump supporter. Kennedy's campaign finance report also showed substantial support from people who have promoted conspiracy theories. Steve Kirsch, a promoter of disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, donated over $10,000. Other notable donors include activist Abby Rockefeller of the Rockefeller family, billionaire Gavin de Becker, and anti-abortion advocate Mark Lee Dickson.

CIA conspiracy theory

In an interview with Joe Rogan, Kennedy expressed a belief that the CIA might kill him. "I gotta be careful," he said. "I'm not stupid about it and I take precautions."

Political positions

Abortion 
Speaking to reporters at the Iowa State Fair in August 2023, Kennedy said that he supports a national ban on abortion after the first trimester. He elaborated further, "Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child." His campaign later backtracked, releasing a statement saying that he had misunderstood the question because it had been asked in a noisy and crowded exhibition hall.

Economy 
When launching his campaign, Kennedy said that his priority would 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". Strongly critical of the contemporary political economy of the United States, he described it as "cushy socialism for the rich and this kind of brutal, merciless capitalism for the poor".

Kennedy has stated that he will enact policies that favor "small and medium businesses" and break up "too-big-to-fail" banks and monopolies: "When crisis strikes, bail out the homeowners, debtors, and small business owners instead."

In an interview with The Hill's "Rising" program, Kennedy stated he would be in favor of "giving some kind of massive debt forgiveness" for student loans in order to "unleash" creative energies and "rebuild the country."

Foreign policy 
Kennedy has said he wants to "end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know what’s happening."  He says that "the Democratic Party became the party of war,” and said "I attribute that directly to President Biden."

In June 2023, Kennedy stated in an interview that on broad terms he believes that U.S. foreign relations should involve significantly reducing the military presence in other nations. He specifically said the country must "start unraveling the Empire" through closing U.S. bases in different locations worldwide.

China 
During an appearance on Newsmax TV in June 2023, Kennedy claimed without citing any evidence that the United States and China are engaged in an arms race to develop what he described as "ethnic bioweapons" designed to attack and harm people of a specific race. He also claimed without evidence that, despite the U.S. being a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention, the Central Intelligence Agency has continued to undertake banned bioweapons research in secret.

Ukraine and Russia 
Kennedy argues that there were agreements between United States and Russian (or Soviet) leaders emphasized that NATO would not expand eastwards, and the illegal invasion occurred because Russian security concerns were ignored by the United States. He has described Russia's conduct with regards to the Minsk Agreements as "acting in good faith." His son, Conor, is fighting in the conflict as a member of the Ukrainian International Legion.

Kennedy has blamed the war on alleged U.S. engineering of the 2014 Revolution of Dignity; wrongfully stating the war has cost the U.S. $8 trillion;, blamed Ukrainian President Zelensky for "provoking" Russia, claimed Ukraine had "allowed the U.S. to place nuclear-capable Aegis missile launchers along Ukraine’s 1,200-mile border with Russia, and pushed the Ukraine bioweapons conspiracy theory.

Kennedy believes that the administration of President Joe Biden in large part caused the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia due to reckless and militant action; he has specifically cited the issue of NATO expansion into Eastern Europe. At the same time, he has clarified that he refuses to connect this criticism with anything considered support of the government of Russia under Putin, particularly given Kennedy's ethical opposition to the regime's beliefs and politics. He has remarked that "Putin is a monster" and also labeled the leader "a thug" as well as "a gangster".

Health care coverage 
In contrast to a Medicare for All system as proposed by politicians like Bernie Sanders, Kennedy has stated that "my highest ambition would be to have a single-payer program ... where people who want to have private programs can go ahead and do that but to have a single program that is available to everybody." He then said that such a system would probably be "politically unrealistic." He also opposes the prospect of nationalizing the pharmaceutical industry or providing a public option for pharmaceuticals, and instead emphasizes the need to prevent regulatory capture.

Kennedy has said he wants to make existing services available to all, including "alternative and holistic therapies that have been marginalized in a pharma-dominated system."

Gun rights and school shootings
Kennedy has stated "I'm not going to take people's guns away and I believe in gun control myself." He has explained his position by saying "I'm a constitutional absolutist. We can argue about whether the Second Amendment was intended to protect guns. That argument has now been settled by the Supreme Court."

Kennedy has strongly suggested that antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs are to blame for school shootings. According to him "there's a tremendous circumstantial evidence SSRIs and benzos and other drugs are doing this." At the same time he admitted that there are no data to support this claim. He said however that "prior to the introduction of Prozac, we had almost none of these events in our country". Experts say that there is no evidence for a connection between psychiatric drugs and school shootings and point out that only a minority of school shooters were prescribed drugs.

LGBT issues 
Kennedy has supported the legalization of gay marriage for many years. He has stated that transgender people deserve respect, that he is opposed to "mean-spirited" legislation and that he supports peoples' "gender choices." However, he is against transgender women participating in women's sports, and has supported the LGBT chemicals conspiracy theory.

In a book review of The Real Anthony Fauci, psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple observes that Kennedy often dismisses the widespread scientific consensus that HIV causes AIDS. Kennedy continues to repeat long-debunked theories that the disease is caused by a "gay lifestyle" and the use of poppers and injectable drugs.

Vaccination and COVID-19 
Kennedy is active in the anti-vaccine movement and has espoused the pseudoscientific claim that vaccines cause autism, contrary to the overwhelming scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective. He is the founder and chairman of the anti-vaccine disinformation organization Children's Health Defense, which is known for promoting conspiracy theories and quackery. He has previously aligned himself with the studies of Mark Geier, a former physician whose license was revoked for administering chemical castration medications to autism spectrum disorder patients.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he promoted the debunked claim that hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were effective treatments for the virus, and multiple conspiracy theories related to COVID including false claims that both Anthony Fauci and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were trying to profit off a vaccine, and suggesting that Bill Gates would cut off access to money of people who do not get vaccinated, allowing them to starve.

Antisemitic and racist remarks 
Before announcing his bid for the presidency, Kennedy compared President Biden's COVID-19 vaccination policies to the Holocaust at a rally in Washington, DC. He asserted that Anne Frank and Jews in Nazi Germany had more freedom than American citizens amid vaccine mandates in churches and schools, and business closures. His Nazi analogy was condemned by both the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and his wife, Cheryl Hines. He later apologized and claimed his remarks were taken out of context.

According to a New York Post report published in July 2023, Kennedy said at a dinner party that "COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese" and said that "We don't know whether it was deliberately targeted [like] that or not, but there are papers out there that show the racial and ethnic differential". Kennedy responded to the report by calling it "mistaken", said that "I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews", and said that he "never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered". He said that he was instead expressing his belief that the United States and other governments were developing "ethnically targeted bioweapons", citing a 2021 study on the genetic susceptibility of COVID-19 as proof that these types of bioweapons could be engineered. He claimed that the dinner party was off the record, a claim that has been disputed by the event organizer. Marianne Williamson, another candidate for the 2024 Democratic nomination who is also Jewish, condemned his comments. The Anti-Defamation League, the Stop Asian Hate Project, and Kennedy's sister and nephew, have also condemned his comments. Later in July, Kennedy said that he "should've been more careful about what I said", but continued to deny allegations of racism and antisemitism, saying that "In my entire life, I have never uttered a phrase that was either racist or antisemitic. … I've fought more ferociously for Israel than anybody, and I am being censored here."

Public reception

Kennedy has often polled around the low double digits in polls, and is considered an underdog by many media sources. The Democratic National Committee and others consider Kennedy to be a fringe candidate. Time reported in May 2023 that individuals who favor Kennedy span political lines: "A YouGov poll found RFK Jr. enjoying a 48% favorability rating overall and 49% among Republicans; it doesn't stretch the imagination to assume the Kennedy brand and nostalgia are doing a lot of the work there [whereas] Biden stands at 47% in that poll overall but lagging with anemic 16% favorability among Republicans."

A later poll conducted by YouGov between June 10 and 13, 2023 among 1,500 U.S. citizens, and released by The Economist showed that Kennedy was viewed favorably by 49 percent of respondents, giving him the highest net favorability rating of 19 points. He was viewed unfavorably by 30 percent. In comparison, President Biden and former President Trump each had the second-highest percentage of respondents viewing them favorably, with 44 percent saying so. Biden had a minus-9 net favorability rating, while Trump had a minus-10 net favorability rating.

Opposition from the Kennedy family
The reaction to Kennedy's campaign from his extended family has been overwhelmingly negative. His sister Kerry Kennedy told Business Insider, "I love my brother Bobby, but I do not share or endorse his opinions on many issues, including the COVID pandemic, vaccinations and the role of social media platforms in policing false information."

Several family members also oppose his candidacy due to his anti-vaccine views, and have publicly announced their support for Joe Biden's reelection bid. Biden has been endorsed by Caroline Kennedy, Joe Kennedy III, and Victoria Reggie Kennedy (all of whom serve in his administration as U.S. ambassadors). Caroline's son, Jack Schlossberg, called Kennedy's campaign an "embarrassment" and a "vanity project". Other family members, such as Patrick J. Kennedy and Rory Kennedy, have also endorsed Biden.

Support from outside the Democratic Party 
CBS News reported that former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon "had been encouraging Kennedy to run for months", believing he could serve as a "useful chaos agent" and promote opposition to vaccines. Kennedy has denied any involvement with Bannon and referred to the accusation as a "baseless lie". Other alt-right and right-wing personalities who have encouraged his campaign include Mike Flynn, Alex Jones, and Roger Stone. Some of them have speculated that he could become Trump's running mate in the 2024 campaign as part of a unity ticket if he loses the Democratic primary.

Former Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush speechwriter Douglas MacKinnon wrote an opinion piece in the The Hill stating that he believes Kennedy will ultimately be the 2024 Democratic nominee, asserting that he was "still not convinced President Joe Biden will actually run for reelection". Other conservative commentators such as Eric Bolling, Charlie Kirk, and Greta Van Susteren have also praised his campaign. After Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News, Kennedy defended him as "breathtakingly courageous" and blamed his termination on the pharmaceutical industry, believing it was in retaliation for an episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight where he had lauded Kennedy's stance on vaccines. In return, Carlson asserted that "There's never been a candidate for president the media hated more than Robert F. Kennedy Jr." and said that Kennedy is "winning".

Kennedy appeared on the All-In Podcast, hosted by venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Friedberg, and David O. Sacks. Sacks later co-endorsed Kennedy and Republican Ron DeSantis. A report by Axios found that the Kennedy and DeSantis campaigns shared many of the same wealthy Wall Street donors. DeSantis himself has suggested that as president, he would consider appointing Kennedy to lead either the Centers for Disease Control or the Food and Drug Administration.

Notes

References

External links
 Campaign website
 Peace and Diplomacy campaign speech
 Kennedy's NewsNation town hall

2023 establishments in the United States
2024 Democratic Party (United States) presidential campaigns
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.