Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has released a statement after a screenshot of flirtatious TikTok comments from his account went viral.
Kennedy initially launched a campaign to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in April. He subsequently switched political affiliations and is currently running as an independent.
Screenshots of a comment from his campaign’s official TikTok account – @teamkennedy2024 – on a photo of OnlyFans creator Tyler Idol showing off her figure in a pair of black shorts were widely circulated online this week.
“Wow!!” read the comment from the account in Kennedy’s name with a verified checkmark. NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s TikTok account commented on a 'thirst trap' video back in 2022.
The video was of a TikTok influencer showing off her butt in which RFK Jr. responded with: "Wow 🥰🥰"
The comment was made on September 16, 2022 and appears to have since been taken… pic.twitter.com/PYaUbFgnXC
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 1, 2024
Kennedy clarified on Feb. 1 that he did not leave the comment, which was made in 2022.
“Do people really think I was TikToking in 2022?” said Kennedy.
“The TikTok comment in question was made in 2022 long before I ever had a TikTok account,” said Kennedy in a thread on X. “This comment now appears on my account because the account was previously owned by one of the campaign’s young social media managers.”
“When I announced my run for the presidency in April of 2023 the team wanted it broadcasted on every social media platform, including TikTok,” he continued. “However, TikTok does not allow live streaming for accounts that have less than 1,000 followers. The social media manager decided to transfer his account, which had around 1,500 followers, to me in order to stream my announcement on TikTok.”
Kennedy’s TikTik account now has over 500,000 followers. His campaign’s social media manager was identified by The Daily Mail as 33-year-old Rijoun Murphy of Georgia.
A Harvard-Harris poll found in January that Kennedy had highest net favorability among voters. With 48% of respondents regarding the environmental lawyer favorably, Kennedy tied former President Donald Trump. Kennedy, however, has lower unfavourability (30%) than Trump (48%).
Kennedy was also regarded with higher favor than technology billionaire Elon Musk (47%), former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (43%), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (43%), and Vice President Kamala Harris (43%). President Joe Biden took seventh place with 41% favorability.
