As I scoured through Crisis Magazine’s archive, I noticed there was not even a single mention of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.). So I thought that, given his recent announcement of his bid for the leadership of the Democratic Party, a piece about him would be of interest to Crisis readers. 

His uncle, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated in 1963. Five years later, in 1968, his father, Robert F. Kennedy, the former United States attorney general, who at the time was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, was also assassinated. His cousin, the son of JFK, also known as John-John or JFK Jr., who was an American attorney, journalist, and magazine publisher, tragically died in a plane crash in 1999. Needless to say, the Kennedy family has been marred by tragedy.

So, who is RFK Jr., and why should American voters care? I’ll sketch out the main reasons as to why I believe RFK Jr. could be a strong candidate beyond partisan lines for those who are looking to vote for a person beyond the disappointment of two political parties. At 69 years old, he’s the fourth member of the Kennedy family to run for the Democratic nomination for president. He is an environmental lawyer and the founder and chairman (currently on leave) of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD). 

The CHD is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children and their fundamental rights. According to the organization, 54 percent of U.S. children are chronically ill. Their mission is to bring an end to childhood health epidemics by both seeking ways to protect children from harmful exposures and holding entities such as pharmaceutical companies that they claim are responsible for this accountable. Their mission also includes fighting against corruption, mass surveillance, and censorship which seek to elevate profits over the well-being of human civilization. And they strive to protect health freedom and bodily autonomy.

Views on Vaccine Safety

For years, RFK Jr. has been subject to a smear campaign for his skepticism of vaccine safety. He has been dubbed an anti-vaxxer, despite having explicitly stated the following in his 2015 book, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak: The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury—a Known Neurotoxin—from Vaccines:

People who advocate for safer vaccines should not be marginalized or denounced as anti- vaccine. I am pro-vaccine. I had all six of my children vaccinated. I believe that vaccines have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of humans over the past century and that broad vaccine coverage is critical to public health. But I want our vaccines to be as safe as possible.

In 2015, RFK Jr. and the CHD argued that ethylmercury contained in thimerosal vaccines, fluoridation in drinking water, aluminum, wireless phones, and acetaminophen are all major contributors to the rise in food allergies, cancer, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) found in children. In February of 2017, RFK Jr. and actor Robert De Niro (who believes thimerosal vaccines were the cause of his son’s autism) gave a press conference arguing that the mainstream media has explicitly functioned as spreading propaganda promoting the $35 billion vaccination industry, stifling debate surrounding vaccine safety. 

Although I have criticized the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry in my books Making Sense of Nonsense and COVID-19: A Dystopian Delusion, in this particular instance, my intention is not to argue whether the claims of RFK Jr. and CHD are correct or not but to simply draw attention to their claims so readers can decide for themselves. 

Sadly, RFK Jr. suffers from a condition known as spasmodic dysphonia (laryngeal dystonia), a neurological disorder that affects muscles in the larynx (voice box). This, at times, makes it challenging to understand him in interviews and speeches. However, his condition seems to have improved over the last few years. For many years, RFK Jr., along with many physicians, remained clueless as to the cause of his disorder, which surfaced in 1996; however, in a recent interview, he stated that three years ago, when he was litigating against all the companies that produce particular flu vaccines, he had a look at all the list of side effects produced by these vaccines that are on the manufacturer’s inserts and discovered that spasmodic dysphonia was one of the top injuries—alluding to the flu vaccine as the cause of his disorder.

One thing that cannot be said is that RFK Jr. and the CHD’s mission to advocate for more rigorous testing and safety protocols for vaccine development and the reduction of potential harmful exposures to chemicals and radiation is not a worthwhile humanitarian objective. One also shouldn’t be surprised by this undertaking, given his rather recent discovery, which has been the source of major frustration for a prominent activist and public figure such as himself. Rather than use the pejorative term, “anti-vaccine activist,” which the mainstream media deliberately and deceptively always uses, it would be more fitting and fairer to refer to him as a “vaccine safety activist.”

On the Covid-19 Fiasco

The smearing campaign by the mainstream media has only intensified since the Covid fiasco of the past three years. RFK Jr. has been labelled a conspiracy theorist and listed as one of the “Disinformation Dozen,” a list of 12 people who, according to the New York Times, are “responsible for sharing 65 percent of all anti-vaccine messaging on social media.” Unlike most politicians, scientists, medical doctors, lawyers, judges, and others—whether due to intimidation, fear, or incentivization—RFK Jr. has been extremely critical of all the policies surrounding Covid-19, including the lockdowns, media censorship, demonization of early Covid treatments, the Covid vaccine rollout and the associated propaganda, and the infringement on people’s rights and freedoms. Unlike most politicians, scientists, medical doctors, lawyers, judges, and others—whether due to intimidation, fear, or incentivization—RFK Jr. has been extremely critical of all the policies surrounding Covid-19.

At the end of 2021, RFK Jr. published a book titled The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, criticizing Anthony Fauci’s corruption and deadly and draconian Covid-19 policies. In it, he states: 

Anthony Fauci seems to have not considered that his unprecedented quarantine of the healthy would kill far more people than COVID, obliterate the global economy, plunge millions into poverty and bankruptcy, and grievously wound constitutional democracy globally. We have no way of knowing how many people died from isolation, unemployment, deferred medical care, depression, mental illness, obesity, stress, overdoses, suicide, addiction, alcoholism, and the accidents that so often accompany despair. We cannot dismiss the accusations that his lockdowns proved more deadly than the contagion. 

On Freedom

RFK Jr. has proven himself a champion of people’s rights and freedoms. He has been critical of the unwarranted and unprecedented measures taken by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, as I’ve argued in my satirical book, Beacons of Hope. He rightfully defended the Canadian Truckers’ peaceful demonstration and the rights of citizens to be free of government mandates, to be free to assemble, exercise free speech, and be free to petition. 

He also criticized the unwarranted invocation of the Emergencies Act and the freezing of the bank accounts of the Canadian truckers and their supporters. The freezing of Canadians’ bank accounts was one of the most egregious infringements on human rights in recent Canadian history, but it was also a demonstration of what a tyrannical and corrupt government is capable of enacting on its citizens. It was definitely an eye-opener for the astute observer.

In defending the Canadian truckers’ convoy, he observed that “free money” (uncontrolled by the government) is as important as freedom of expression. In this same vein, on May 3, 2023, he tweeted a string of tweets, stating the following:

Some advocate tight control of cryptocurrencies to prevent their use by criminals. But it isn’t just criminals who want privacy. So do dissidents and ordinary citizens. Governments harass their enemies and crush dissent by controlling bank accounts and payment platforms. Until we restore trust in government (a distant prospect) we need cash and crypto to ensure freedom.

He also tweeted that:

Cryptocurrencies, led by bitcoin, along with other crypto technologies are a major innovation engine. It is a mistake for the U.S. government to hobble the industry and drive innovation elsewhere. Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea.

RFK Jr. is opposed to the “FedNow” Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which is set to be rolled out in July 2023. He sees the impending dangers of mass government surveillance with a centralized digital currency and its ominous connection to a social credit score system, as he tweeted on April 5, 2023: “CBDC tied to digital ID and social credit score will allow the government to freeze your assets or limit your spending to approved vendors if you fail to comply with arbitrary diktats, i.e. vaccine mandates.” Over-centralization of our banking and financial systems has proven to lead to greater tyranny.

On Draining the Swamp?

Draining the swamp involves purging not only politics, government, the military complex, and the banking system of much of their inherent corruption. Although President Donald Trump had a series of successes throughout his presidency—including significant peace deals, even among Israel and Middle Eastern countries; an economic boom; his defense of life and appointment of constitutional originalists; his hitting back at mainstream media and labelling them as “fake news”; and many other accomplishments, whether in his control or not—he was not able to follow through on his promise to drain the swamp. 

Not unlike President Trump, RFK Jr. sees the deep corruption in not only American politics but in many American and globalist institutions. He has been highly critical of the merger of state and corporate power, which he argues is a form of corporate kleptocracy, something that would align with a classic understanding of fascism. He currently sees the Democratic Party as the party of war, censorship, fear, Neocons, and Wall Street. This is why he has publicly stated that he has fundamental disagreements with the direction in which President Joe Biden and his administration are leading the U.S. This is precisely why he seeks to challenge this corrupt connection between state and corporate power and heal the nation’s political divides. Not unlike President Trump, RFK Jr. sees the deep corruption in not only American politics but in many American and globalist institutions.Tweet This

He has heavily criticized the war in Ukraine. He blamed American Neocons and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for deliberately inciting Russia to invade Ukraine, saying that it has caused an unprecedented amount of harm to Ukrainians since it has been responsible for the deaths of 300,000 Ukrainian troops and 14,000 civilians. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, he indicated that, as of April 2023, the U.S. government has sent $113 billion in aid to the Ukraine war, which is significantly more than the entire budget of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), which is roughly one fifth of that (a total of $23 billion). 

Moreover, 57 percent of Americans cannot claim $1,000 to their name, and 25 percent are going hungry. He argued that the American government is funding a war that cannot be afforded by printing excessive amounts of money (the equivalent of ten centuries of money in the past 14 years), causing a high level of inflation, which is, in turn, causing a rise in food prices and consequently burying the middle class and the poor while simultaneously providing funds to bail out banks.

In an interview with ABC, RFK Jr. stated: “I think I know more about how to fix regulatory agencies than any other politician in this country because I spent 40 years suing them.” This would uniquely qualify him over Joe Biden and other presidential candidates to weed out much of the corruption that pervades these regulatory agencies. 

He has also not pulled any punches when it comes to his criticism of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). He has publicly stated that there is overwhelming evidence that they were responsible for the assassination of his uncle, JFK, and that much of this evidence is still being withheld from the American people. He has also blamed them for the assassination of his father, RFK. He has recently stated that he would restructure the CIA in a way that would make them accountable, since they have been heavily involved in many coups d’état in a third of the world’s countries throughout their 76 years of existence.  

On Gender Ideology

Although he has not commented extensively on gender ideology, he is against biological males competing against biological females. 

On Abortion

Even though there are many positive aspects to RFK Jr.’s campaign and his defense of Western values, and despite being a devout Catholic (attending daily Mass), there are a few problematic aspects to his views. One of these includes his promise to “keep government away from women’s childbearing choices.”

Is There a Path to Victory?

As time passes, Biden is losing more and more Democratic support. And if integrity, honesty, intelligence, coherence, and competence could override corruption, dishonesty, idiocy, senility, and incompetence, then yes, RFK Jr. would have a good chance at winning the bid for Democratic leadership. But, more often than not, the way things ought to be is not in line with how they actually are. 

Historically speaking, RFK Jr. faces an insurmountable challenge. If he were to win the primary nomination away from the incumbent, it would be the first time in modern U.S. history. Interestingly, although the cause and effect are not known, according to Robert G. Boatright, the editor of The Routledge Handbook of Primary Elections, primary opponents harm incumbent presidents in the general election, so this may be good for Biden leaving the Oval Office. Either way, things are not looking good for Biden.

A run-off between former President Trump and RFK Jr. would be a fascinating proposition if only both could win their primaries. (This also assumes that Trump can win the primaries against the likes of Ron DeSantis and others.) Both, in a sense, are political outsiders and anti-establishment figures, despite one being a former president and the other having a long line of relatives involved in politics. They both seem to see the two-party system as a uni-party, or, in other words, two sides of the same coin. However, both seem bent on restoring their parties.

The probability of such a possibility is exceedingly low, but it is not easily written off since we are living in unprecedented times. And if such were the case, could RFK Jr. become the 47th president of the United States? Having said that, RFK Jr. says he has a better chance than anyone to beat Trump and that he knows he can win. He speculates that he can take supporters from Trump—whereas no other Democratic nominee can do that—and that he can get more independent voters than anyone. In addition, he can confront President Trump on two fronts that no other Democrat can: first, on supporting lockdowns, and second, on his push for the development of Covid vaccines and his later gloating of “Operation Warp Speed.” Que será, será, but I think for the first time in many decades there is finally a respectable candidate, albeit a dark horse, running for Democratic leadership.