He is the grandson of assassinated former President JFK and son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated. But his popularity is mainly due to his controversial anti-vaccine stance and the fact that he has propagated several conspiracy theories.
US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday (11/14) that he will nominate the controversial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services in his cabinet.
The lawyer, 70, is a member of the Kennedy family and, as Trump indicated in a message on X (formerly Twitter), he will try to “ensure that everyone is protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives “. who have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country.”
The appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, is one of the most controversial made by the president-elect.
RFK Jr., as he is known, is the grandson of assassinated former President JFK (John F. Kennedy) and son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was also assassinated. But his popularity is mainly due to his controversial anti-vaccine stance and the fact that he has propagated several conspiracy theories.
He also ran as an independent candidate for president in this year’s elections, but a few months before the vote he canceled his campaign and began supporting Trump.
The president-elect, who will begin his term on January 20, promised that his health minister will defend citizens’ interests against “the food industrial complex and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in hoaxes and disinformation.”
He said his goal would be to “end the chronic disease epidemic and make America great and healthy again.”
Kennedy Jr. thanked the nomination with a message healthiest in the world”. “
From Trump’s opponent to ally
Born in 1954 in Washington DC, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the son of former Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy and grandson of former President John F. Kennedy.
With a reputation for rebelliousness in his family, RFK Jr., as he is known, had trouble with the law in his youth and, for years, used cocaine and heroin.
After a more than 40-year career as a lawyer in the field of environmental law, he has attracted controversy in recent years for his critical position on vaccines and for leading movements that question the regulation and safety of pharmaceutical products.
RFK Jr. also ran for president in this year’s election as an independent candidate, after initially running in the Democratic primary.
His campaign featured bizarre stories that made headlines, including one that, in 2014, dumped a dead bear cub after being hit by a car in New York’s Central Park.
He ultimately withdrew his candidacy and announced support for Trump in August, after attributing his failure to “media censorship” and efforts by his former party, the Democratic Party, to thwart his campaign.
He has since promised to “make America healthy again,” as his motto goes, under the Trump presidency.
Anti-vaccine activist
In 2007, RFK Jr. founded the Children’s Health Defense organization, an entity dedicated to exposing what it considers harmful practices in the pharmaceutical industry.
The NGO is considered by the scientific community to be a dangerous source of misinformation on vaccines.
He has published several books, including The real Anthony Fauci (“The real Anthony Fauci”, in free translation, reference to the leader of the task force to combat covid-19 in the USA) and A letter to the liberals (“A letter to the liberals”, in free translation).
In his texts he presents controversial arguments on the alleged negative effects of vaccines and conflicts of interest in the American healthcare system.
One of the false claims he has been repeating for years is that there is a link between autism and vaccines, which has been rejected by numerous studies conducted by renowned scientists.
In addition to Anthony Fauci, Kennedy has also focused his attention on public figures such as Bill Gates and Joe Biden, whom he accuses of manipulating information on the Covid-19 pandemic in favor of private interests.
In 2021, RFK Jr. served as the executive producer of Vaxxed 2: The truth of the peoplesequel to the documentary Vaxxedrun by former doctor Andrew Wakefield, known as a forerunner of the anti-vaccine movement.
His position on vaccines has generated controversy not only in scientific circles, but also within his own family.
Some of his family members have publicly expressed their dissent, arguing that his ideas and activities at Children’s Health Defense had dangerous consequences for public health.
Despite this history, Kennedy Jr. has denied being against vaccines and, last week, said that if Trump made him public health officer, he would not “take vaccines away from anyone.”
Lawyer in the environmental sector
RFK Jr. also has a long history as an activist and attorney specializing in environmental law.
Since the 1980s he has worked as a consultant and attorney for organizations such as Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), defending the environmental rights of individuals and groups against large corporations.
In 1999 he founded the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization that brings together hundreds of groups fighting to protect bodies of water around the world.
Through his law firm, Kennedy & Madonna LLP, he has handled major cases involving environmental contamination.
In 2007, he was named Public Justice’s “Lawyer of the Year” after winning a $396 million lawsuit against DuPont for contamination in West Virginia.
Also noteworthy is the $670 million settlement reached in 2017 in a lawsuit against Monsanto, after a factory belonging to the multinational agricultural and biotechnology company damaged the health of residents in Ohio and West Virginia.
Source: Terra
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