Robert Kennedy Jr - Photo By Wall Street Journal
April 19 (Reuters) – Covid-19 vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of a storied U.S. political dynasty, announced on Wednesday a long-shot bid to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
He is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and the son of former U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential bid.
At a rally in Boston, Kennedy did not mention vaccines or question their effectiveness. He said he would prioritize research on chronic diseases if elected president.
“My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign, and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now… to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism on our country. To commoditize our children, our purple mountains’ majesty, to poison out children and our people with chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs, to strip-mine our assets, to hollow out the middle class, and keep us in a constant state of war,” Kennedy said during his announcement speech.
He has been banned from YouTube and Instagram for allegedly spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kennedy invoked his father and uncle, but also acknowledged that many current members of the extended family do not support his presidential bid.
His vaccine criticisms has earned him allies on the right. In 2017, Republican then-President Donald Trump tapped him to oversee a vaccine review panel.
Self-help guru Marianne Williamson has also said she will challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination.
Biden, 80, said last Friday that he will run for re-election and will make a formal announcement “relatively soon.”
Comments