Profile: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On April 19, 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign to run against Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election. The speech was held in Boston, Massachusetts, to pay homage to his family ancestry. Many people in the Kennedy family have tried to take the presidential seat, such as Robert F. Kennedy Sr. who ran for president in order to end the Vietnam war. RFK’s campaign sought to heal a divided country back in the 70s but he was shot and killed after claiming a victory in a California primary. Senator Edward Kennedy, one of RFK Jr’s uncles, was another Kennedy who wanted to take the Democratic nomination but lost considerably against the incumbent president Jimmy Carter. The last Kennedy to hold an elected office was RFK Jr’s nephew Joe Kennedy III who was a Mashechesetts representative. The only Kennedy who has held the Presidential office was John F. Kennedy who was assassinated during a presidential motorcade.
RFK Jr. was born in Washington DC on January 17, 1954. He is an environmental lawyer who now lives in California. He has advocated for anti-vaccination ideals and questioned the reliability of modern day science, as he has previously alleged links between vaccinations and autism. In his announcement speech, RFK Jr reinforced his anti-vaccination sentiments, offering criticism of vaccines and science and also accusing social media companies of censoring content. He compared Covid 19 restrictions to Nazi Germany. RFK Jr. acknowledged that some of his family has chosen to not support him in his campaign. He says he has “ no ill will or any kind of disappointment” regarding his family.
His campaign focuses on a strong antiwar sentiment. RFK Jr. seeks to bring troops home from war as well as ending foriegn wars. RFK Jr. claims that corporations and government are untrustorworthy, and his campaign seeks to reinstill public trust in the government. The campaign also wants to invest in clean energy and switching to zero waste cycles. The economy also seems to be very relevant in RFK Jr’s campaign. He insists that government intervention is needed to help those affected by the current state of the economy and is a high priority. Rehabilitation instead of punishment is another topic that his campaign covers, as well as decreasing surveillance on the public and censorship of media by big tech companies.
As of now, RFK Jr. has 19% of participants in recent polls. No incumbent president has given up that many voters in the past 50 years in a primary. However, it is important to note that these polls are from a very small sample size and are very early decisions, and a lot of things are bound to change as we come closer to another election.
By Baxter Hernacki