He comes from the most famous dynasty in the country. But politically, he seems closer to Donald Trump than to JFK. For more than fifteen years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of President John F. Kennedy (assassinated in 1963) and son of the former Minister of Justice Robert Kennedy alias “Bobby” (assassinated in 1968), has been a virulent antivax. Last year, in a demonstration in Washington, he castigated health measures, saying that Jews under Nazism were better off than Americans during the pandemic: “Even under Hitler, you could cross the Alps to reach Switzerland or you hide in an attic like Anne Frank.” In the face of the outcry, he apologized.
At 69, Robert Kennedy, whose father “Bobby” was killed in the middle of the election campaign, announced his candidacy for the Democratic primaries in 2024 on April 20. He is the latest in a long line. His sister Kathleen served as deputy governor of Maryland; his brother Joseph, representative of Massachusetts in the United States Congress; his nephew Joe, too. Robert Kennedy, affected by a rare vocal function disorder that makes his voice quaver, has long been a respected lawyer specializing in the protection of the environment.
As early as 2005, however, he propagated a hazy theory linking autism and vaccines. With the Covid pandemic, he intensified his campaign on the dangers of compulsory vaccination and became one of the main antivax propagandists through his organization Children’s Health Defense. In 2021, he even published a book in which he accused Anthony Fauci of orchestrating a “historic coup against Western democracy”. According to him, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is allied with pharmaceutical companies to fill their pockets. Facebook and Instagram blocked his NGO’s account.
“The Kennedys, it’s over”
His crusade dismays the Kennedys. “It’s embarrassing for them, believes Laurence Leamer, author of several books on the dynasty. They do not adhere to his delusional ideas.” And they fear it will damage their reputation. “For young people, the surname Kennedy is now associated with antivax,” adds the biographer. The black sheep of the family attended, alongside sulphurous Trumpist personalities, meetings where it was claimed that the elections had been rigged. “I love my brother Bobby, but I don’t share his views on a lot of things,” his sister Kerry wrote in a recent statement. Even actress Cheryl Hines, his third wife, railed against his “reprehensible” remarks about Anne Frank.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers a statement to the press following a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump on January 10, 2017 at Trump Tower in New York City.
© / afp.com/TIMOTHY A. CLARY
That’s not all. This funny Kennedy also claims that Sirhan Sirhan is not his father’s murderer and is campaigning for his release. To oppose this “black sheep”, several members of the Kennedy family publicly announced that they would vote for Joe Biden, himself close to the Kennedy clan. The current president entered politics inspired by “Bobby”. And Senator Ted Kennedy (another brother of JFK) helped him get over the death of his wife and daughter in 1972 in a car accident. Finally, the Biden administration is full of Kennedys. Joe is the special envoy to Northern Ireland; Caroline and Vicki, Ted’s widow, are ambassadors.
Robert’s candidacy comes at a time when the influence of the family, whose ambition, scandals and tragedies that have fascinated America, is waning. “The Kennedys are over,” resumes Laurence Leamer. “Before, this name alone made it possible to be elected. But the young generation no longer has the sacred fire.” The proof, there is no longer a single Kennedy in Congress after the humiliating defeat of Joe Kennedy III in 2020, which targeted the Senate of Massachusetts. Robert Kennedy, he has little chance of winning.
President Biden remains, for lack of serious opponents, the favorite in the primaries – even if he has still not announced his candidacy. On the Republican side, things are less clear cut. In addition to Donald Trump, there are several candidates such as Nikki Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, Asa Hutchinson, former governor of Arkansas, and we are awaiting the entry into the running of Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Mike Pence. Maybe Robert Kennedy should consider switching sides.