Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will challenge President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination.
Kennedy has not personally announced his run, but he filed his statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.
For roughly 15 years, Kennedy has been heavily critical of vaccines, with the COVID-19 vaccine being no exception.
Kennedy runs a non-profit called Children’s Health Defense. According to the organization's website, their mission is to "end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable and establish safeguards to prevent future harm. We fight corruption, mass surveillance and censorship that put profits before people as well as advocate for worldwide rights to health freedom and bodily autonomy."
The organization provides legal assistance with fighting mandatory vaccination in schools and the workplace.
In March, Kennedy and CHD filed a class action lawsuit against Biden, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and dozens of other officials and agencies. The complaint alleges that "the defendants have colluded with, encouraged and pressured social media companies to suppress speech that the government does not want the public to hear and to silence specific speakers who are critical of federal policy."
CHD President and General Counsel Mary Holland said, “If Government can censor its critics, there is no atrocity it cannot commit. The public has been deprived of truthful, life-and-death information over the last three years; this lawsuit aims to have government censorship end, as it must, because it is unlawful under our constitution.”
In an article breaking the news about his run, the Associated Press appeared to pierce the veil of impartiality to attack Kennedy over his position on vaccines — including implying that his organization may have got people killed.
"His organization has targeted false claims at groups that may be more prone to distrust the vaccine, including mothers and Black Americans, experts have said, which could have resulted in deaths during the pandemic," the AP article said.
The article described him as "once a bestselling author and environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water."
"But more than 15 years ago, he became fixated on a belief that vaccines are not safe. He emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement, and his work has been described by public health experts and even members of his own family as misleading and dangerous," the article continued.
The clear hit piece concluded by quoting a relative saying that his ideas are "dangerous."
The candidate is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Robert F. Kennedy.
