Vaccine critic Robert Kennedy Jr launches US Democratic presidential bid

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April 19 (Reuters) – Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of a legendary U.S. political dynasty, announced on Wednesday a long-running bid to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.

Kennedy, 69, is unlikely to succeed, but his campaign could serve as a platform to advance claims that vaccinating children poses health risks – a theory that has been debunked by multiple scientific journals .

At a rally in Boston, Kennedy did not mention vaccines or question their effectiveness. He said he would prioritize chronic disease research if elected president.

“It’s crippling for the middle class of this country. We have to understand what it is,” he said.

Kennedy has been banned from YouTube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and the son of former US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential bid.

Kennedy invoked his father and uncle, but also acknowledged that many current extended family members do not support his bid for president.

His anti-vaccine activism has won him allies on the right. In 2017, then-Republican President Donald Trump hired him to oversee a vaccine review board, drawing criticism from scientists who said it could legitimize unfounded skepticism.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy criticized social distancing requirements and vaccination mandates. At a January 2022 rally in Washington, he suggested that Americans had fewer freedoms during the pandemic than Jews living in Nazi Germany. He later apologized for his remarks.

Self-help guru Marianne Williamson also said she would challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination.

Biden, 80, said last Friday he would run for re-election and make an official announcement “relatively soon.”

Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Andy Sullivan

Thomson Reuters

Andy covers politics and politics in Washington. His work has been cited in Supreme Court briefs, political attack ads, and at least one Saturday Night Live skit.

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