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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | |
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| Born | January 17, 1954 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Political orientation | Liberalism Populism Zionism Anti-vaccination |
| Political party | Independent |
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is a Statesian politician who is currently the 26th US Secretary of Health. He is the son of senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of president John F. Kennedy. Kennedy was a presidential candidate for the 2024 election before endorsing Donald Trump.
Political career[edit | edit source]
Kennedy was a Democrat for most of his life until becoming an independent in October 2023. After the 2024 Republican National Convention, he endorsed Trump. After Trump won the presidential election, he announced he would make Kennedy the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy is planning to purge the National Institutes of Health of 600 vaccine researchers and replace them with Trump supporters.[1]
Secretary of Health[edit | edit source]
Kennedy was appointed United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in February 2025. In office, Kennedy falsely claimed that vaccines cause autism and that autism was a "preventable disease." [2][3] In April 2025, Kennedy began work on a national registry of autistic people in the United States.[4][3]
Foreign policy views[edit | edit source]
Russia[edit | edit source]
Kennedy has criticized the role of the United States in the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian conflict, saying, "Putin was asking to settle this war from the beginning" and promising upon election to "put an end to this war."[5]
Zionism[edit | edit source]
Kennedy denies that Israel is an apartheid state. He falsely claimed that Israel ended its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.[6] He defend Israel's attacks on the Palestinian city of Jenin by calling it a "bomb factory" and said that almost all Palestinians in Jenin support terrorism.[7]
Pseudoscientific views[edit | edit source]
In 2007, Kennedy founded the Children's Health Defense, which opposed vaccines and water fluoridation. He spread disinformation during a 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa. Kennedy also denies that HIV causes AIDS.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Otis Grotewohl (2024-11-22). "Trump’s cabinet picks are cast of vultures" Workers World.
- ↑ Benjamin Mateus (2025-03-11). "RFK Jr.’s CDC plans to resurrect the unfounded link between vaccines and autism" World Socialist Web Site.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Benjamin Mateus (2025-04-29). "Autism and vaccines: The history and politics of the Kennedy-Trump attack on public health" World Socialist Web Site.
- ↑ Judy Stone (2025-04-28). "Autism Registry Raises Concern Over Ethics, Privacy And Intended Use" Forbes.
- ↑ Katie Smith and Jeff Arnold (2024-09-03). "Vaccines to Ukraine: Where does Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stand on key issues?" NewsNation. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ↑ Max Blumenthal (2023-08-03). "RFK Jr staff block Israel-Palestine dialogue after the candidate agreed" The Grayzone. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ↑ Miko Peled (2023-08-11). "An Open Letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2023-08-12.