RFK, Jr. supported a 15 week national abortion ban, the same ban favored by anti-abortion extremists like former VP Mike Pence. He also ran for President in California on the party line of a political party that supported a total national abortion ban. |
RFK Jr. Said He Supported A Federal 15 Week Abortion Ban. According to Politico, “Speaking to NBC from the Iowa State Fair, Kennedy said, ‘I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life,’ but added: ‘Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child.’ He said he would sign a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks or 21 weeks of pregnancy if he were elected president.” [Politico, 8/13/23]
Former Vice President Mike Pence Also Supported A 15 Week Federal Abortion Ban. According to Politico, “Limits on abortion have been widely discussed in the Republican presidential field. Former Vice President Mike Pence, for instance, has called for his fellow GOP presidential candidates to support a 15-week national ban.” [Politico, 8/13/23]
RFK Jr.’s Campaign Claimed He Did Not Support The National Abortion Ban He Endorsed. According to Politico, “But his campaign subsequently said Kennedy did not mean to support any federal limits on abortion. ‘Today, Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,’ his campaign said. ‘Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion.’” [Politico, 8/13/23]
April 29, 2024: RFK Jr. Announced He Would Appear On The Ballot In California As The Candidate Of The American Independent Party. According to Spectrum News 1, “The campaign for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he has won ballot access in California. The American Independent Party of California nominated Kennedy and his vice presidential running mate Nicole Shanahan over the weekend and filed paperwork Monday with the Secretary of State. ‘What I’m trying to do during this election is to get people to step away from their narrow self interest, to transcend their lower impulses of anger and bigotry and fear and see themselves as part of a big adventure, see themselves as heroes that are willing to take a risk,’ Kennedy said in a video statement announcing his ballot access win in California.” [Spectrum News 1, 4/29/24]
2023: The American Independent Party’s Platform Said That Abortion In “All States” Was Forbidden By The Constitution Because The 14th Amendment Protected “All Visitors Or Citizens, And To All Born Or Unborn Persons.” According to the American Independent Party, “AN AMERICAN INDEPENDENT PARTY MANIFESTO […] Our Great Pro-Life Constitution The Republic established by our Constitution is the greatest of all pro-life institutions. In the first place, it protects our lives from the impositions of foreign nations and internal disorder. Our Constitution in its Fifth Amendment also forbids the government to take life—or liberty or property—unjustly. The Fourteenth amendment requires all States to apply all the protections they provide for life equally to all visitors or citizens, and to all born or unborn persons within the territories governed by their laws.” [American Independent Party, archived 10/3/23]
RFK, Jr. has made his name and fortune pushing false conspiracy theories about vaccines. Among his claims that have been proven false were the belief vaccines cause autism, cancer, allergies, and autoimmune diseases, that vaccines are not safety tested, that the Spanish Flu originated from a vaccine research program. Kennedy and his anti-vaccine nonprofit specifically targeted Black communities to push their anti-COVID vaccine agenda. Kennedy used his position to amplify anti-vaccine voices in Samoa, exacerbating a measles outbreak that killed more than 80 people, mostly small children. |
CNN: “Kennedy Is One Of The Country’s Most Prominent Anti-Vaccine Activists.” According to CNN, “As he has before, Kennedy also declared Thursday that he is not “anti-vaccine” at all, merely a proponent of vaccine safety. In reality, Kennedy is one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists. He has for years used false and misleading claims to undermine public confidence in vaccines that are indeed safe.” [CNN, 7/21/23]
2017-2022: Kennedy, Jr. Was Paid $1.9 Million In Salary By Children’s Health Defense. According to financial documents filed with the IRS, Children’s Health Defense paid Kennedy $1,923,714 between 2017 and 2021 as a base salary. [Children’s Health Defense, form 990, fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 via ProPublica]
Kennedy, Jr. Also Profits From Anti-Vaccine Lawsuits. According to the New York Times, “While most people have to work, Mr. Kennedy did not always settle for the six-figure salary he was earning in positions with nonprofits. For decades, he has entwined his loftier missions with opportunities for enrichment. In addition to his salary at Children’s Health Defense, for instance, he stands to profit personally from lawsuits, including against the pharmaceutical giant Merck over a common vaccine for children.” [New York Times, 11/16/23]
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed Childhood Vaccines Cause Autism And Other Illnesses
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed Vaccines Cause Autism. According to the Associated Press, “Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, Kennedy said in a podcast interview that ‘There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective’ and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism. In a 2021 podcast he urged people to ‘resist’ CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines.” [Associated Press, 7/31/23]
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed That Vaccines Cause Autoimmune Diseases, Developmental Disorders, And Allergies. According to Kennedy’s website, “Furthermore, autism is not the only issue of concern when it comes to the childhood vaccine schedule. Developmental disorders, autoimmune diseases, allergies, and other conditions are also associated with vaccination. CDC refuses to perform a study comparing the outcomes of fully vaccinated children to children who have never received any vaccines.” [Kennedy24.com, 8/15/23]
RFK Jr. Linked Rare Childhood Cancers To Vaccine Injuries. [VIDEO] July 2024: Robert Kennedy Linked Rare Childhood Cancers To Vaccine Injuries. In an interview, Robert Kennedy said, "Even if they're rare, we should be talking about them. We talk about rare cancers in kids. Let's find out what, you know, what is causing them, and let's do everything that we can to make vaccines safer so that that doesn't happen anymore. We do this with other vaccines. The only product that you can't, that that can operate negligently, recklessly, that can injure you, and you can never sue them. So they have a litigation shield because of that." [Interview with Robert Kennedy, 7/3/24]
RFK Jr. Claimed Vaccines Were The Only Medical Product That Is Not Safety-Tested Prior To Licensure.
July 2024: Kennedy Said, “Vaccines Are The Only Medical Product That Is Not Safety-Tested Prior To Licensure.” According to Kennedy on Fox News' Fox & Friends, "What I have said is, let’s have testing for each of the vaccines to make sure that they are safe and effective. Vaccines are the only medical product that is not safety-tested prior to licensure, and we need placebo-controlled trials or, you know, you have a placebo group and a vaccine group and then let's look at the health five years later and make sure they're healthy. That is all I want.'" [Fox News, 7/15/24]
RFK Jr. Claimed The Spanish Flu Originated From A Vaccine Research Program
July 27, 2023: RFK Jr. Said Spanish Flu Originated With Vaccine Research Programs. According to Rolling Stone, "'There’s even good evidence that even Spanish flu came from vaccine research.' Kennedy then claimed that 'the medical research on these diseases and vaccine research has actually created some of the worst plagues in our history.'" [Rolling Stone, 6/27/23]
Kennedy, Jr. Pushed Conspiracy Theories About the COVID-19 Vaccines That Targeted The Black Community
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed The COVID Vaccine “Cost Lives.” According to Kennedy’s website, “Did Mr. Kennedy encourage Covid vaccine hesitancy that cost millions of lives? […] Absolutely not. This claim is scientifically unsupportable. The U.S. had very high adult Covid vaccination rates and still lost more people per capita than any other country by a substantial margin. Many countries with much lower rates of vaccination did not see higher deaths. For example, Haiti, with one-fortieth the vaccines administered per capita compared to the USA, saw 75 deaths per million from Covid, whereas the USA saw 3,000 deaths per million. Looking at global data, it seems hard to argue that vaccination was a silver bullet. Furthermore, looking at all-cause mortality, there is reason to believe that Covid vaccination actually cost lives. Many countries, for example, Germany and Japan, saw spikes in mortality quickly following vaccination campaigns that could not be attributed to Covid. [7] A recent analysis of death statistics in Minnesota appears to show that Covid interventions–including vaccines–caused more excess mortality than Covid itself.” [Kennedy24.com, 8/15/23]
Kennedy, Jr.: “COVID Shots Are A Crime Against Humanity.” In a tweet Kennedy claimed
[@RobertKennedyJr, 12/12/22]
Kennedy, Jr. Was A Hypocrite On COVID-19 Vaccines
Kennedy, Jr. Urged Attendees At A Party At His Home To Be Vaccinated. According to Politico, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the most prominent anti-vaxxers in the country. So it came as a surprise when an invitation to a holiday party at his home in California last week urged attendees to be tested or vaccinated beforehand, two people familiar with the matter told Daniel Lippman.” [Politico, 12/17/21]
Kennedy, Jr. Targeted the Black Community With His Anti-COVID Vaccine Conspiracies, And Made Money Off It
Kennedy, Jr. Released A Film Promoting The Theory That The COVID-19 Vaccine Was Part Of A Conspiracy Against Black Communities. According to NBC, “As vaccine distribution in the U.S. has ramped up, so has the misinformation blitz targeting Black communities. A new video from anti-vaccination activists released online Thursday adds to what experts have called an effort to ‘weaponize’ the outsize damage Covid-19 has done in communities of color. The video was released by anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was recently banned from Instagram for spreading Covid-19 vaccine conspiracy theories, and Republican megadonor David Centner. The hourlong film, which relies heavily on the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, promotes false claims that Covid-19 vaccination efforts are part of a larger, sinister experiment on Black communities.” [NBC, 3/11/21]
Kennedy And His Non-Profit Fundraised Off His Targeting Of The Black Community
Kennedy, Jr. And His Non-Profit Raised Money Off the Movie. According to NBC, “The video — the newest in a series of anti-vaccine propaganda films produced or promoted by Kennedy — was distributed through Kennedy's organization, Children's Health Defense, in the midst of a turbulent vaccine rollout and concerns over who will have access to the treatment and when. After people sign up for notification of the film's release, a message on the website urges visitors to donate to Children's Health Defense.” [NBC, 3/11/21]
2021: Kennedy, Jr. Was Paid More By Children’s Health Defense Than Any Previous Year. According to financial data filed with the IRS, Children’s Health Defense paid Kennedy $501,516 in 2021, more than any other previous year. [Children’s Health Defense, form 990, fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 via ProPublica]
Black Americans Were Disproportionately Killed by COVID-19
Black Americans Died At Twice The Rate Of White Americans From COVID. According to NPR, “Black Americans have twice the risk of dying from COVID-19 compared with white Americans. Racial disparities in vaccination uptake persist across the United States.” [NPR, 6/08/21]
2019: Mother Jones Reported Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Amplified Anti-Vax Voices During Visit To Samoa. According to Mother Jones, "During the stretch in which the vaccination coverage was dropping in Samoa, Kennedy visited the nation in June 2019 and gave a boost to anti-vaxxers there who had used the death of those two infants to help cause the drop in vaccination rates. [..] Public health experts complained Kennedy’s visit to Samoa helped amplify anti-vax voices." [Mother Jones, 7/2/24]
Kennedy repeatedly made antisemitic comments about COVID and COVID mitigation, including claiming the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews, repeatedly comparing mitigation tactics to Nazi policies, and claiming COVID vaccines were equivalent to Nazi experimentation. |
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed That COVID-19 Was Genetically Engineered To Spare Ashkenazi And Chinese People. According to the New York Post, “Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been ‘ethnically targeted’ to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli on East 63d Street. ‘COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,’ Kennedy said. ‘COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.’ ‘We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,’ Kennedy hedged.” [New York Post, 7/15/23]
August 2020: RFK Jr. Compared COVID-19 Policies With Nazis “Test(Ing) Vaccines On Gypsies And Jews.” VIDEO [00:15:55] ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: My father told me when I was a child people in authority lie, and we all—if we are going to continue to live in a democracy, we need to understand that people in authority lie. People in authority will abuse every power that we relinquish to them. And right now we are giving them the power to micromanage every bit of our lives 24 hours a day. They’re going to know where we are. They’re going to know the money that we spend. They’re going to have access to our children. They're going to have the right to compel unwanted medical interventions on us. We—you know—the Nazis did that in the camps in World War II. They tested vaccines on gypsies and Jews, and the world was so horrified after the war that we signed the Nuremberg Charter, and we all pledged when we do that we would never again impose unwanted medical interventions on human beings without informed consent. And yet, in two years, all of that conviction has suddenly disappeared, and people are walking around in masks, where the science has not been explained to them. They are—they are doing what they’re told. They are orchestrating—these government agencies are orchestrating obedience, and it is not democratic. [YouTube, Kagepaten, 8/28/20]
December 2021: RFK Jr. Compared Dr. Anthony Fauci To “Desk Killers” Who Planned Hitler’s Final Solution Of The Jews In Nazi Germany. VIDEO [01:28:30] THEO VON: Do you think Fauci is an evil—do you think it’s evil that’s in him? I mean, are you saying that with this book that he's just an evil guy or do you think he's compromised— ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: I think— VON: Would anybody have been him, it’s just a power and he’s just the man in the position? Is there darker forces at work? KENNEDY: I think—listen, we all, as you know, think of ourselves—we measure ourselves by our intention rather than by our behavior. So I don’t know whether he, I don't know how he views himself, but I know that he must believe that it's OK to impose collateral damage on people in order—maybe he's convincing himself there's a larger cause. But, you know, I have documented again and again and again—with AZT during the AIDS epidemic, which he knew was poisoning people, killed , 330,000 people, and he knew it was doing that and that it was worthless and he let it happen. Um, Hannah Arendt , who wrote a lot about the Third Reich and she was a, you know, a philosopher and writer and a Holocaust survivor—she talked about desk killers during the Third Reich . There were people who worked in the, you know—there were guards in the death camps that were actually killing people , escorting them into chambers, and she said the worst of the people are the people who killed from their desks, the people made these big decisions that involved tens of thousands, hundreds of people and signed it and then, you know, signed off on it and then went home and kissed their wife and pet the dog and hugged her children and thought very, very highly of themselves. I think that's what I think in Dr. Fauci is. I think he’s a desk killer. [YouTube, Theo Von, 12/9/21]
January 2022: RFK Jr. Said It Was Easier To Evade The State In “Hitler’s Germany” By Crossing The Alps Or “Hid(Ing) In An Attic Like Anne Frank Did” Than In The Modern U.S. VIDEO [02:02:13] ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: We are watching something now that I never believed that I would see in my lifetime, and I read in Orwell and Kafka and Aldous Huxley, this, this dystopian science fiction novels that one day the United States would be overtaken by fascism. Fascism incidentally is defined, Mussolini defined it as a merger of state and corporate power, and orchestrated by Tony Fauci so—what we're seeing today, what we're seeing today is what I call turnkey totalitarianism. They are putting in place all of these technical technological mechanisms for control we’ve never seen before. It’s been the ambition of every totalitarian state from the beginning of mankind to control every aspect of behavior, of conduct, of thought, and to obliterate dissent. None of them have been able to do it. They didn’t have the technological capacity. Even in Hitler’s Germany you could—you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you can hide in an attic like Anne Frank did. I visited in 1962 East Germany with my father and met people who had climbed the wall and escaped, so it was possible. Many died trying, but it was possible. Today the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it that none of us can run and none of us can hide. [C-SPAN, 1/23/22]
June 2024: RFK Jr. Compared Vaccination Requirements To Nazi Experimentation. VIDEO [0:00:00] ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: I would leave it to the individual. I wouldn't say that the government should ever be mandating a medical product that you're going to do to your body. And we all agreed that after World War Two, with the. We signed the Nuremberg code, there were trials just for doctors at the end. They were called the doctor trials at Nuremberg because the medical community was so badly behaved in the Third Reich. [YouTube, The Young Turks, 6/17/24]
Beyond his anti-vaccine work, Kennedy has spent his time in the spotlight pushing health related conspiracy theories. Among the theories he has promoted are:
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Kennedy, Jr. Claimed Wireless Internet Caused ADHD, Brain Damage, And Impaired Blood Flow, Among Other Physical And Mental Harm. According to the FAQ on Kennedy’s website, “What is Mr. Kennedy’s opinion on 5G? Does he think it can be used for mind control? Does he think it is a totalitarian tool? Does he think it is unsafe? […] No, Mr. Kennedy does not think, and has never said that 5G can be used for mind control. As people begin to rely increasingly more on network-connected devices, known as the Internet of Things (IOT), our comfort, communication, security, and the functionality of our entire households hinge on internet performance. Any network that drastically increases data transfer speeds becomes critical to the success of the IOT, and such reliability drives people’s reliance on and conversion to living enmeshed with the IOT. As we saw with the Taliban in 2021, authoritarian-ordered internet outages have the power to bring life to a grinding halt, as they have been used to isolate protestors, quash dissent, and exert influence over citizens. Having society fully dependent on any network, and on the IOT, is a vulnerable position to be in. As it pertains to 5G, Mr. Kennedy has always advocated for the FCC to review its outdated, 25-year-old health and safety guidelines before unilaterally applying them to 5G technology without investigation. On Aug. 13, 2021 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of Children’s Health Defense (CHD) in its landmark case against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) challenging the FCC’s decision not to review its health and safety guidelines regarding 5G and wireless technology. [43] The court’s decision states that the FCC failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its determination that its current guidelines adequately protect against harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation and failed to review the extensive evidence— scientific evidence and evidence of existing sickness — that was filed with the FCC. The Joint Appendix of Mr. Kennedy’s brief includes references to thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies showing DNA damage, reproductive harm, neurological effects such as ADHD, and radiation sickness, which seems to be the most widespread manifestation of wireless harms. [44] The evidence shows effects on the brain, including impaired blood flow and damage to the blood-brain barrier, cognitive and memory problems and effects on sleep, melatonin production and mitochondrial damage. Causal mechanism of harm was also established. Oxidative Stress, a mechanism of harm that can lead to cancer, non-cancer conditions and DNA damage, was found in 203 out of 225 studies.” [Kennedy24.com, 8/15/23]
Kennedy, Jr. Supported Research Into Whether Atrazine Can Make People Trans. According to Kennedy’s website, “Has Mr. Kennedy claimed that transgenderism is caused by atrazine? […] Mr. Kennedy believes the link between atrazine is speculative, but concerning and worth further research. Numerous reputable scientific studies have explored the consequences of atrazine exposure on African clawed frogs and other vertebrates. While frogs are especially susceptible to atrazine and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals, their mechanisms of action are not exclusive to frogs.” [Kennedy24.com, 8/15/23]
Kennedy: “Poppers-Consuming Gays” Were One Of Two Risk Groups For HIV. In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “In Western countries, AIDS has never broken away from its original core pool of homosexual men and drug addicts. That limit defies the pattern of every infectious and sexually transmitted disease throughout history. By definition, there can be no viral disease that does not break out of risk groups (poppers-consuming gays and those addicted to and frequently using hard drugs). This is especially true for HIV, because, as Dr. Fauci's acolytes claim, this is supposed to be the most infectious
virus that has ever existed.’ Assuming that is true, it is baffling that the virus did not frequently spread to women through sexual contact and did nor affect all people all over the world equally.”
Kennedy: “AIDS In Western Countries Continued To Be A Disease Of Drug Addicts And Homosexuals.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “It's undeniable that African AIDS is an entirely different disease from Western AIDS. Whereas AIDS in Western countries continued to be a disease of drug addicts and homosexuals-with women reporting only 19 percent of US and European AIDS cases-in Africa, 59 percent of AIDS cases are in women, with 85 percent of cases occurring in heterosexuals, and the remaining 15 percent in children. No one has ever explained how a disease largely confined to male homosexuals in the West is a female heterosexual disease in Africa.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy, Jr. Claimed Using Poppers And A “Gay Lifestyle” Were “Significant” Factors In AIDS. According to Kennedy’s website, “How does Mr. Kennedy justify his statement attributing the cause of AIDS to ‘a gay lifestyle’ and the use of alkyl nitrites, or poppers, rather than acknowledging HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) as the primary cause? […] Mr. Kennedy does not believe that alkyl nitrites – which are immunosuppressants – are the sole cause of AIDS. However, the evidence is strong that they were a significant factor in the disease progression for the first AIDS victims of the early 1980s. He understands that most gay people have a lifestyle not so different from heterosexual people. For the specific subculture that used large amounts of drugs, he believes the lifestyle contributed to their susceptibility to AIDS.” [Kennedy24.com, 8/15/23]
Kennedy: “I Want To Make Clear That I Take No Position On The Relationship Between HIV And AIDS.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “I hesitated to include this chapter because any questioning of the orthodoxy that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS remains an unforgivable-even dangerous-heresy among our reigning medical cartel and its media allies. But one cannot write a complete book about Tony Fauci without touching on the abiding-and fascinating-scientific controversy over what he characterizes as his ‘greatest accomplishment’ and his ‘life's work.’ From the outset, I want to make clear that I take no position on the relationship between HIV and AIDS. I include this history because it provides an important case study illustrating how-some four hundred years after Galileo-policies and power continue to dictate "scientific consensus," rather than empiricism, critical thinking, or the established steps of the scientific method. le is a hazard to both democracy and public health when a kind of religious faith in authoritative pronouncements supplants disciplined observation, rigorous proofs, and reproducible results as the source of ‘truth’ in the medical field.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy Claimed That Dr. Fauci Silenced Anyone Who Disagreed That HIV Was The Only Cause Of AIDS.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “Instead of responding to critics by answering common-sense inquiries, Dr. Fauci has cultivated a theology that denounces questioning of his orthodoxy as irresponsible, uninformed, and dangerous heresy. It's axiomatic that American democracy thrives on the free flow of information and abhors censorship, so Dr. Fauci's extraordinary capacity to ruthlessly silence, censor, ridicule, defund, and ruin prominent dissidents seems more congruent with the Spanish Inquisition or with Soviet and other totalitarian systems. Today, ‘The First Amendment simply does not apply to Tony Fauci,’ says Charles Ortleb. ‘Any scientist who disputes his official cosmology or any of the canons that promote the orthodoxy that HIV is the one and only cause of AIDS is dead in terms of the rewards and sustenance of science.’” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy Claimed AIDS “Commonly” Occurs In People Who Are HIV-Negative. In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “In fact, AIDS commonly occurs in people who test HIV negative. If HIV is truly the only cause of AIDS, this should not be possible.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy: “It's Undeniable That African AIDS Is An Entirely Different Disease From Western AIDS.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “It's undeniable that African AIDS is an entirely different disease from Western AIDS. Whereas AIDS in Western countries continued to be a disease of drug addicts and homosexuals-with women reporting only 19 percent of US and European AIDS cases-in Africa, 59 percent of AIDS cases are in women, with 85 percent of cases occurring in heterosexuals, and the remaining 15 percent in children. No one has ever explained how a disease largely confined to male homosexuals in the West is a female heterosexual disease in Africa.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy Elevated Peter Duesberg’s Theory That HIV Does not Cause AIDS. In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “For starters, Duesberg points out that HIV is seen in millions of healthy individuals who never develop AIDS. Conversely, there are thousands of known AIDS cases in patients who are not demonstrably infected with HIV. Dr. Fauci has never been able to explain these phenomena, which are inconsistent with the pathogenesis of any other infectious disease. […] Prior to advancing his own theory for the etiology of AIDS, Duesberg methodically laid out the logical flaws in Dr. Fauci's HIV/AIDS hypothesis in a ground breaking 1987 article in Cancer Research. Dr. Fauci has never answered Duesberg's common-sense questions. In his subsequent book, Inventing the AIDS Virus, Duesberg, in 724 riveting pages, expands his dissection of the hypothesis's flaws and outlines his own explanation for the etiology of AIDS.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Duesberg: HIV Is “One Of The Most Harmless” Viruses. According to NPR, “Even more recently, Duesberg appeared on Joe Rogan's show: In 2012, he called HIV ‘one of the most harmless’ viruses. This was at a point when 1.6 million people had died of AIDS, and long after very precise anti-HIV treatments had been proved to keep people alive for decades after being infected with HIV and nothing else.” [NPR, 5/23/21]
Duesberg Claimed AIDS Was Caused by Drugs, Nutrition, And Anti-HIV Medication. According to NPR, “Duesberg's claims then became Mbeki's denial. A virus, they said, couldn't cause a syndrome. Duesberg even served as an adviser to Mbeki, and Mbeki amplified Duesberg's claims that AIDS was caused by poor nutrition, recreational drugs and even the new drugs that treated HIV.” [NPR, 5/23/21]
Duesberg Claimed There Were Connections Between Poppers, Other Common Drugs, Antibiotics And AIDS. In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “Duesberg, Mullis, and their school of critics blame all the lethal symptomology known as AIDS on a multiplicity of environmental exposures that became ubiquitous in the 1980s. The HIV virus, this group insists, was a kind of free rider that was also associated with overlapping lifestyle exposures. Duesberg and many who have followed him offered evidence that heavy recreational drug use in gay men and drug addicts was the real cause of immune deficiency among the first generation of AIDS sufferers. They argued that the initial signals of AIDS, Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP}, were both strongly linked to amyl nitrite- ‘poppers’-a popular drug among promiscuous gays. Other common ’wasting’ symptoms were all associated with heavy drug use and lifestyle stressors. (Those interested in exploring the debate should read Chapter 3, Virus Hunting Takes Over, of Duesberg's riveting book Inventing the AIDS Virus.) Suffice it to say that Duesberg makes a compelling case, and his arguments deserve to be aired and civilly debated. Dr. Duesberg observed that critical AIDS cases in the 1980s were among men engaged in behaviors then commonplace in the post-Stonewall, drug-charged gay party scene. Risk factors included promiscuous sex with multiple partners and cumulative toxic exposures from psychoactive drugs including methedrine, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and a cocktail of antibiotics prescribed to treat ubiquitous sexually transmitted diseases. On average, the early AIDS patients had been on at least three antibiotics courses in the year preceding diagnosis.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy Raised A Theory that AIDS Was Actually Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “A large contingent of HIV/AIDS critics (although not Peter Duesberg) had been clamoring that CFS and AIDS were a single disease- neither caused by HIV. To derail this lethal heresy, Dr. Fauci had set the compass for the medical community's reprehensible dismissal of CFS as a ‘psychosomatic illness.’ Following Dr. Fauci's lead, doctors dubbed CFS as ‘Yuppie Flu,’ characterizing it as a neurotic affliction among women genetically unequipped for high-pressure corporate jobs that suddenly opened to them in the 1980s, coterminous with the lockstep pandemics of AIDS and CFS. A September 6, 1992 Newsweek article by Geoffrey Cowley asked ‘AIDS or Chronic Fatigue?’ Though Cowley took some heat for the article, he was merely voicing the quiet suspicion among many of Dr. Fauci's own PIs that ‘non-HIV AIDS’ was actually CFS, and that CFS was simply another name for AIDS when it occurred in heterosexuals who tested negative for HIV. ‘As more cases come to light,’ Cowley observed, ‘it's becoming clear that the newly defined syndrome has as much in common with CFS as it does with AIDS.’” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy: “It Seems Undeniable To Me That The Dissidents Have Raised Legitimate Queries That Should Be Researched, Debated, And Explored.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “For those subsumed in the theology that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS, Dr. Duesberg's critiques seem so outlandish that they automatically debase anyone who even considers them. It's telling, then, to discover how much traction his arguments have among the world's most thoughtful and brilliant scientists, including many Nobel laureates, perhaps most notably Luc Montagnier, who first isolated HIV. To date, Dr. Fauci has been able to silence but not to answer or to refute Duesberg's thesis. I restate that I take no side in this dispute. It seems undeniable to me that the dissidents have raised legitimate queries that should be researched, debated, and explored. I believe public health officials have a duty to answer these sorts of questions, and I yearn to hear those arguments in an energized debate; Dr. Fauci's aggressive censorship campaign and his refusal to debate arouse my suspicion and my ire.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Kennedy: “Suffice It To Say That Duesberg Makes A Compelling Case, And His Arguments Deserve To Be Aired And Civilly Debated.” In The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy wrote, “Duesberg, Mullis, and their school of critics blame all the lethal symptomology known as AIDS on a multiplicity of environmental exposures that became ubiquitous in the 1980s. The HIV virus, this group insists, was a kind of free rider that was also associated with overlapping lifestyle exposures. Duesberg and many who have followed him offered evidence that heavy recreational drug use in gay men and drug addicts was the real cause of immune deficiency among the first generation of AIDS sufferers. They argued that the initial signals of AIDS, Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP}, were both strongly linked to amyl nitrite- ‘poppers’-a popular drug among promiscuous gays. Other common ’wasting’ symptoms were all associated with heavy drug use and lifestyle stressors. (Those interested in exploring the debate should read Chapter 3, Virus Hunting Takes Over, of Duesberg's riveting book Inventing the AIDS Virus.) Suffice it to say that Duesberg makes a compelling case, and his arguments deserve to be aired and civilly debated. Dr. Duesberg observed that critical AIDS cases in the 1980s were among men engaged in behaviors then commonplace in the post-Stonewall, drug-charged gay party scene. Risk factors included promiscuous sex with multiple partners and cumulative toxic exposures from psychoactive drugs including methedrine, cocaine, heroin, LSD, and a cocktail of antibiotics prescribed to treat ubiquitous sexually transmitted diseases. On average, the early AIDS patients had been on at least three antibiotics courses in the year preceding diagnosis.” [Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Real Anthony Fauci, 2021]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has admitted to knowing the infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 after being charged with federal sex trafficking. In 2023, as a candidate for president, RFK Jr. admitted to having flown on Epstein’s plane—the same one dubbed “Lolita Express” because it transported predators and underage victims to Epstein’s home in the Virgin Islands for sex. RFK Jr. said he had flown on Epstein’s plane twice—in 1993 to visit his mother in Palm Beach, Florida, for Easter and another time to travel to South Dakota to hunt for fossils with his children. However, the records do not reflect that. Flight logs show that RFK Jr. did fly to Palm Beach with Epstein and apparently at least one child in February 1994 before returning on a flight with Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Epstein’s masseuse Sophie Biddle. Newly revealed court records raise more questions about Epstein and those—including RFK Jr.—who had connections with him during the years he was committing his crimes. |
RFK Jr. Was Named Among Passengers Who Flew On Epstein’s Infamous Plane
December 2021: RFK Jr. Was Among The Celebrities Named As Passengers On Epstein’s Plane, Dubbed “Lolita Express.” According to Newsweek, “Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey and more—these are just some of the high-profile figures who allegedly flew in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious ‘Lolita Express’ private jet. […] Who Flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’ Plane? Donald J. Trump Bill Clinton Kevin Spacey Chris Tucker Bill Gates Prince Andrew Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Violinist Itzhak Perlman U.S. Sen. John Glenn Former Senate majority leader George Mitchell.” [Newsweek, 12/1/21]
RFK Jr. Flew To Florida And Back With Epstein And Members Of His Family, With Epstein’s Masseuse On The Return Flight
February 17, 1994: RFK Jr. Flew From New Jersey To Florida With Epstein. Flight logs showed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flew with Jeffrey Epstein and others from Teterboro Airport to Palm Beach International Airport, apparently via Boca Raton Airport, on February 17, 1994. [David Rodgers, pilot flight logs, February-March 1994 (Page 26)]
February 27, 1994: RFK Jr. Flew From Florida To New Jersey With Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, And Sophie Biddle. Flight logs showed that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flew with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sophie Biddle, and others from Palm Beach International Airport to Teterboro Airport. [David Rodgers, pilot flight logs, February-March 1994 (Page 26)]
RFK Jr. Initially Claimed He Had Flown Once On Epstein’s Plane Before Admitting It Was Twice
October 2023: RFK Jr.’s Spokesperson Told Newsweek RFK Jr. Had Flown On Jeffrey Epstein’s Private Jet Once, A 1993 Flight With His Then-Wife, Mary Richardson, And Two Of Their Children From New York To Palm Beach, Florida, To Visit His Mom For Easter. According to Newsweek, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has clarified the nature of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, after it was revealed that the presidential hopeful had flown on the convicted sex offender’s private jet. The independent 2024 presidential candidate was among a number of high-profile people who in 2021 were named as passengers on Epstein’s jet, which was often used to transport guests to the financier’s private Caribbean island, Little Saint James. […] Amid mounting curiosity over Kennedy being listed as one of the passengers, a spokesperson for the former Democrat exclusively told Newsweek that he had ‘flown one time on Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane. It was in 1993 from [New York City] to Palm Beach [Florida] to visit RFK Jr.’s mom for Easter.’ The spokesperson added that the private jet trip was made possible by Kennedy’s then-wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who was friendly with Epstein’s partner at the time, Ghislaine Maxwell. Richardson Kennedy passed away in 2012. Kennedy has been married to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines since 2014. ‘Mary, Kennedy’s wife, and two of their kids were on the flight,’ the representative said. ‘Mary knew Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who learned that they were going to Palm Beach for Easter and offered their family a ride.’” [Newsweek, 11/1/23]
December 2023: RFK Jr. Said He Had Flown On Epstein’s Plane Twice, Once In 1993 And Another Time With Four Of His Children To South Dakota To Go “Fossil Hunting For A Weekend.” According to The New Republic, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr seems to have been a little closer to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein than previously admitted. During an interview with Fox News’s Jesse Waters, the presidential candidate admitted that he had been on Epstein’s so-called Lolita Express jet not just once but twice. The first time was in 1993 on his way to spend Easter with his mother, and on another occasion, he flew on the jet with four of his children to Rapid City, South Dakota, to go ‘fossil hunting for a weekend.’ ‘My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach,’ Kennedy said. ‘Otherwise I was never on his jet alone, I’ve been very open about this from the beginning,’ Kennedy said, noting that this was 30 years ago and long before ‘anybody knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s nefarious issues.’ That’s one more time than Kennedy told Newsweek in November, claiming that he had been on the jet just once.” [New Republic, 12/6/23]
There Was No Evidence Supporting RFK Jr.’s Claim That He Flew On Epstein’s Plane To Visit His Mom For Easter And To Go To South Dakota With His Children
Epstein Flight Logs From Around Easter 1993 Did Not Show RFK Jr. As A Passenger. Flight logs from Jeffrey Epstein’s pilot David Rodgers around Easter 1993 did not include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a passenger. That year, Easter occurred on April 11. [David Rodgers, pilot flight logs, March-April 1993 (Page 17-18); U.S. Census Bureau, updated 10/8/21]
December 2023: Intelligencer Reported That That Was “No Record In Any Publicly Available Epstein Flight Logs Of The Kennedy Family’s Fossil-Collecting Trip To South Dakota.” According to Intelligencer, “But Epstein’s flight logs from the early ’90s show that RFK Jr. and family members flew with Epstein and Maxwell from Teterboro airport to Florida on February 17 and that they flew back on February 27 — almost two months before the Easter holiday that year. There is also no record in any publicly available Epstein flight logs of the Kennedy family’s fossil-collecting trip to South Dakota.” [Intelligencer, 12/6/23]
RFK Jr. And His Then-Wife Had Relationships With Maxwell And Epstein
RFK Jr. Said His Ex-Wife Had “Some Kind Of Relationship With Ghislaine Maxwell,” Epstein’s Girlfriend And Co-Conspirator. According to , “ The first time was in 1993 on his way to spend Easter with his mother, and on another occasion, he flew on the jet with four of his children to Rapid City, South Dakota, to go ‘fossil hunting for a weekend.’ ‘My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach,’ Kennedy said.” [New Republic, 12/6/23]
Former Epstein House Manager Juan Alessi Said RFK Jr. Was A Guest Of Epstein’s At His Palm Beach, Florida, Home. According to , “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s celebrity guests, the sex offender’s former house manager claimed in newly unsealed documents. The ex-employee, Juan Alessi, listed Kennedy as one of numerous high-profile visitors, along with Prince Andrew, Donald Trump, attorney Alan Dershowitz, hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai, beauty pageant stars, and at least one Nobel Prize winner. Their alleged presence on one of Epstein’s properties is not itself proof of wrongdoing. […] Alessi’s excerpted deposition was one of thousands of pages of documents released by a New York federal court this week from a lawsuit filed in 2015 by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged Epstein victim, against the late sex offender’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The Miami Herald sued to release and unseal filings in 2019; almost all of the remaining files were published this week, including creepy phone messages left for Epstein and new details about the prominent men in his orbit. […] A spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign said the visit to Epstein’s house happened during the Easter trip and argued that he was not actually a ‘guest.’ ‘Once they landed in Florida, Epstein had a limousine pick Epstein and the Kennedy family up at the airport in West Palm Beach and it drove Mr. Kennedy and his wife and children to Epstein’s house in Palm Beach where they waited briefly for a different car to pick them up to drive them to his mother’s house,’ she said. The trip, she continued, ‘took place approximately 30 years ago, long before Mr. Epstein’s criminal behavior was public knowledge.’” [Daily Beast, 1/5/24]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly invoked the tragic massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, to further his theory that antidepressants—not the proliferation of guns—were the true cause of mass shootings in the United States. Kennedy has misrepresented the facts around the Columbine shooting, including the drug one of the gunman had used, and used footage of wounded students and students fleeing the school in a video in which he claimed antidepressants like Prozac have led to more shootings and falsely claimed that the National Institutes of Health could not research the cause of mass shootings because of the influence of “Big Pharma.” Kennedy, at the time, has started campaigning on right-wing positions on guns, citing his own perceived experience of state-sponsored censorship to suggest guns were necessary to fight against a tyrannical government. In his campaign literature, for example, RFK Jr. said that he “(r)ecognizes that many interpret recent years' lockdowns and censorship as further proof of the need for gun rights to maintain the balance of power between sovereign citizens and a potentially abusive government.” |
January 2024: RFK Jr. Wrote That “Any Conversation About Gun Violence Is Incomplete If It Doesn’t Touch On […] Suppressed Evidence Implicating SSRIs” And Shared A Post Featuring Columbine Gunman Eric Harris. In a tweet, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, “Any conversation about gun violence is incomplete if it doesn’t touch on mental health and the suppressed evidence implicating SSRIs in suicide and homicide.” The tweet retweeted a post that included a graphic of 12 killers who were allegedly using “psychiatric medications.” One of the killers was Columbine High School gunman Eric Harris. [Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 1/3/24]
April 2024: RFK Jr. Released A Video Of His Discussion About Mass Shootings With Footage Of Students At Columbine High School During The 1999 Shooting There. VIDEO [00:00:58] ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Something happened because, you know, when I was a kid we had gun clubs in our schools and people would bring their 22s to school, leave them in the car, they’d bring them in, and, you know, nobody was shooting at people. And something happened. There’s never been a time in human history where individuals with guns were walking into crowds of strangers, crowds of children, and starting to butcher them. That’s never happened. GLENN BECK: No. KENNEDY: Suddenly that started happening around Columbine, and the question is why is it happening. Why is it happening in this country, and Switzerland has, you know, a comparable level of gun ownerships. BECK: Correct. Correct. KENNEDY: Everybody’s required to have a gun in their house, and they—the last mass shooting they had in Switzerland was 21 years ago. The last mass shooting— BECK: This culture is sick. KENNEDY: We have mass shootings every 21 hours, so the question is why is that happening? NIH is under its own rules is not allowed to look for the answer to that question. There’s a lot of things NIH won’t do. NIH won’t look for the cause of the autism epidemic. They won’t look for the cause of peanut allergies. They won’t look at any of these things because they’re frightened that there’s a big—a big shot, a big food processor, big ag, big pharma that is going to be angry at them with the answer, so they simply won’t do it, and one of the things they have not looked at—they have a rule since 1997, they have not been able to look at the cause of gun violence. When Columbine happened, five of the family, victims of the family sued I think Prozac, and there are SSRIs. I’ve talked about this. I’m not saying this is the answer, I’m saying it’s something that we should look at. [Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4/21/24]
April 2024: PolitiFact Determined That RFK Jr.’s Claim That “Congress Prohibits The NIH From Researching The Cause Of Mass Shootings” Was “False.” According to PolitiFact, “On April 21 on X, Kennedy flagged his recent interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, which touched on gun policy. Kennedy summarized his gun policy views in the post, writing, ‘The National Institutes of Health refuses to investigate the mystery; in fact, Congress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings. Under my administration, that rule ends — and our kids’ safety becomes a top priority.’ But this information is outdated. In 1996, Congress passed the Dickey Amendment, an appropriations bill provision that federal officials widely interpreted as barring federally funded research related to gun violence (though some observers say this was a misinterpretation). Congress in 2018 clarified that the provision didn’t bar federally funded gun-related research, and funding for such efforts has been flowing since 2020. […] Kennedy said, ‘Congress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings.’ Although the Dickey Amendment, a provision of appropriations law supported by the gun industry, didn’t prohibit all federally supported, gun-related research from 1996 to 2018, decisionmakers acted as though it did. However, in 2018, Congress clarified the provision’s language. And since 2020, CDC, NIH, and other federal agencies have funded millions of dollars in gun-related research, including studies on mass shootings. We rate Kennedy’s statement False.” [PolitiFact, 4/23/24]
April 2024: RFK Jr. Tweeted A Video In Which He Put Footage Of The Columbine High School Shooting Over His Interview With Glenn Beck.
[Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4/21/24]
April 2024: RFK Jr. Tweeted A Video In Which He Put Footage Of The Columbine High School Shooting Over His Interview With Glenn Beck.
[Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4/21/24]
April 2024: RFK Jr. Tweeted A Video In Which He Put Footage Of The Columbine High School Shooting Over His Interview With Glenn Beck.
[Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4/21/24]
June 2023: RFK Jr. Said There Was “Tremendous Circumstantial Evidence [That] SSRIs And Benzos And Other Drugs Are” Leading To School Shootings And Said Prior To Prozac, “We Had Almost None Of These Events.” According to Rolling Stone, “On the topic of gun violence, Kennedy was once again able to pin blame on pharmaceutical companies, suggesting that the epidemic of school shootings in the U.S. may be attributable to SSRI antidepressants. ‘I also am going to look very closely at the role of psychiatric drugs in these events,’ Kennedy promised. ‘And there are no good studies right now. That that should have been done years ago on this issue, because there’s a tremendous circumstantial evidence [that] SSRIs and benzos and other drugs are doing this.’ By his own admission, there is no data to corroborate such an effect, and it’s unclear what ‘circumstantial evidence’ he was referring to. ‘And prior to the introduction of Prozac, we had almost none of these events in our country,’ Kennedy continued, naming a specific antidepressant in yet another unsupported claim. ‘The one thing that we have, it’s different than anybody in the world, is the amount of psychiatric drugs our children are taking.’ He then alleged that the National Institutes of Health won’t research the supposed link between these drugs and shootings ‘because they’re working with the pharmaceutical industry.’” [Rolling Stone, 6/5/23]
RFK Jr.’s Campaign Website Originally Claimed There Was Evidence Anti-Depressants Cause School Shootings. According to Kennedy’s website, “Is there evidence linking SSRI antidepressants to the epidemic of student shooters in the United States, as Mr. Kennedy suggested, placing blame on pharmaceutical companies? […] Yes, Mr. Kennedy believes that there is enough evidence to merit further investigation into a link.” [Team Kennedy, 8/7/23, via archive.org]
2019: A Team Of Researchers Wrote That “Most School Shooters Were Not Previously Treated With Psychotropic Medications” And “Even When They Were, No Direct Or Causal Association Was Found.” In the peer-reviewed journal Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Ryan Chaloner Winton Hall, Susan Hatters Friedman, Renee Sorrentino, Maria Lapchenko, Adeyemi Marcus, and Robert Ellis wrote, “There has been an assertion in certain parts of the media, especially social media, that the majority of individuals who have engaged in a school shooting were prescribed psychotropic medications prior to the event. To determine if there is any validity to this assertion, the authors of this article reviewed publicly available information regarding individuals involved in ‘educational shootings’ per FBI publications for active shooters from 2000 to 2017. Sources of information included news reports with official citations, official reports regarding events, available court records, and FBI Freedom of Information Act requests. Secondary data-points were also collected, such as location, number of weapons used, number of victims, legal outcome, and whether the shooter committed suicide. From the information obtained, it appears that most school shooters were not previously treated with psychotropic medications – and even when they were, no direct or causal association was found.” [Behavioral Sciences & the Law via Wiley Online Library, September/October 2019]
April 2023: USA Today Said A Social Media Post Claiming “90% Of School Shootings” Were Linked To “Psych Meds” Was “False.” According to USA Today, “A March 30 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) features a screenshot of a 2012 article written by conservative journalist Jerome Corsi. ‘Psych meds linked to 90% of school shootings,’ reads the article’s headline. The body of the article says ‘some 90 percent of school shootings over more than a decade have been linked to a widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.’ […] Our rating: False Researchers have not found any link between antidepressants and school shootings. Available studies suggest a minority of school shooters were prescribed medication prior to committing their crimes. […] But Dr. Ragy Girgis, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and the lead researcher of a 2022 study on mass murders, told USA TODAY there’s no evidence of a link between medication and shootings.” [USA Today, 4/10/23]
One Of The Columbine Gunmen, Eric Harris, Took The Drug Luvox, An Anti-Depressant Medication Commonly Used To Treat Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. According to CNN, “Reports surfaced Wednesday that one of the gunmen in the Littleton, Colorado, school shooting, Eric Harris, was rejected by Marine Corps recruiters days before the Columbine High School massacre because he was under a doctor’s care and had been prescribed an anti-depressant medication. Harris’ prescription was for Luvox, an anti-depressant medication commonly used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is one of a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). Other SSRIs are Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. Prozac is the most commonly prescribed anti-depressant in the United States.” [CNN, 4/29/99]
October 2001: Families Of Five Columbine High School Shooting Victims Filed A Lawsuit Against Luvox Maker Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Alleging The Drug Played A Role In The Shooting. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Families of five Columbine High School shooting victims are suing the maker of an anti-depressant that one of the student gunmen was taking when he opened fire. A therapeutic amount of the drug Luvox was found in Eric Harris’ system after he died, the Jefferson County coroner’s office has said. Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. makes the drug to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court claims Solvay failed to warn Harris’ doctor about side effects. “ [Los Angeles Times, 10/22/01]
February 2003: The Final Plaintiff In A Lawsuit Against Solvay Dropped The Lawsuit Over Luvox’s Role In The Massacre. According to the Associated Press, “A student wounded in the Columbine High School shootings dropped a lawsuit Thursday against the manufacturer of an anti-depressant drug that one of the gunmen was taking. Mark Taylor agreed not to pursue his claim that the drug Luvox, made by Solvay Pharmaceuticals, made gunman Eric Harris homicidal and suicidal. In exchange, Solvay agreed to donate $10,000 to the American Cancer Society. […] The families of slain teacher David Sanders and three other wounded students, who were originally part of the suit, dropped their cases several months ago.” [Associated Press via Fort Collins, 2/7/03]
April 2024: RFK Jr. Said “Five Of The Family, Victims Of The Family Sued I Think Prozac.” VIDEO [00:00:58] ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Something happened because, you know, when I was a kid we had gun clubs in our schools and people would bring their 22s to school, leave them in the car, they’d bring them in, and, you know, nobody was shooting at people. And something happened. There’s never been a time in human history where individuals with guns were walking into crowds of strangers, crowds of children, and starting to butcher them. That’s never happened. GLENN BECK: No. KENNEDY: Suddenly that started happening around Columbine, and the question is why is it happening. Why is it happening in this country, and Switzerland has, you know, a comparable level of gun ownerships. BECK: Correct. Correct. KENNEDY: Everybody’s required to have a gun in their house, and they—the last mass shooting they had in Switzerland was 21 years ago. The last mass shooting— BECK: This culture is sick. KENNEDY: We have mass shootings every 21 hours, so the question is why is that happening? NIH is under its own rules is not allowed to look for the answer to that question. There’s a lot of things NIH won’t do. NIH won’t look for the cause of the autism epidemic. They won’t look for the cause of peanut allergies. They won’t look at any of these things because they’re frightened that there’s a big—a big shot, a big food processor, big ag, big pharma that is going to be angry at them with the answer, so they simply won’t do it, and one of the things they have not looked at—they have a rule since 1997, they have not been able to look at the cause of gun violence. When Columbine happened, five of the family, victims of the family sued I think Prozac, and there are SSRIs. I’ve talked about this. I’m not saying this is the answer, I’m saying it’s something that we should look at. [Twitter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 4/21/24]
September 2023: RFK Jr. Said He Sympathized With Those Who Believe “Their AR-15s Are Protecting Them From Government Overreach.” In a CNN op-ed, Peter Bergen wrote, “Kennedy told me this at the end of August for the Audible podcast “In the Room with Peter Bergen.” Beyond querying him about his controversial views on the pandemic — in which he debated with me about whether Covid vaccines had actually saved many lives — I was also interested in exploring his positions on the kinds of issues many American voters care most about, such as the economy, the border, affirmative action, gun control, climate change, abortion and the war in Ukraine. […] But in discussing America’s ‘gun culture’ and the view by some that ‘their AR-15s are protecting them from government overreach’ — he said it was a position he felt some sympathy with, given what he considered to be the massive US government overreach during the Covid pandemic.” [Peter Bergen op-ed, CNN, 10/9/23]
RFK Jr.’s Campaign Literature Said He Was A “Constitutional Absolutist” On Guns And That He Was A Staunch Advocate For Second Amendment Gun Rights Protections.” According to Team Kennedy’s “Presidential Policy Matrix” comparing Robert F. Kennedy, President Biden, and Donald Trump, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. […] Constitutional absolutist. Staunch advocate for Second Amendment gun rights protections. Argues that there has been no meaningful relaxation of gun regulation in the last twenty years to explain our soaring mass shootings and rates of gun homicides. Committed to investigating root causes of this crisis and addressing them. Recognizes that many interpret recent years' lockdowns and censorship as further proof of the need for gun rights to maintain the balance of power between sovereign citizens and a potentially abusive government. Supports some free-market measures like insurance safety incentives and voluntary buybacks but no mandatory measures.” [Team Kennedy via Internet Archive, archived 4/6/24]
RFK Jr.’s Campaign Literature Said He Was A “Staunch Advocate For Second Amendment Gun Rights Protections” And That He “Preserves Foundations Of The Constitution Such As The Second Amendment.” According to Team Kennedy’s “RFK Jr.’s Policy Cheat Sheet,” “Staunch advocate for Second Amendment gun rights protections Preserves foundations of the Constitution such as the Second Amendment.” [Team Kennedy via Internet Archive, archived 4/23/24]
RFK Jr.’s Campaign Literature Said He “Recognizes” That Many Americans Believe That “Recent Years' Lockdowns And Censorship” Were “Further Proof Of The Need For Gun Rights.” According to Team Kennedy’s “RFK Jr.’s Policy Cheat Sheet,” “Mr Kennedy will take a holistic, nonpartisan approach to reducing gun violence which include s (sic) addressing root causes and embracing common sense measures, that 80% of Americans support, including the majority of gun owners, i.e. background checks. […] Recognizes that many interpret recent years' lockdowns and censorship as further proof of the need for gun rights to maintain the balance of power between sovereign citizens and a potentially abusive government.” [Team Kennedy via Internet Archive, archived 4/23/24]