Democrat Robert F. Kennedy JR – environmental lawyer, son of Robert F. Kennedy and notorious anti-vaxxer – has filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
Kennedy had been long involved in the anti-vaccine movement, but the effort intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic and development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
His anti-vaccine charity, Children’s Health Defense, prospered during the pandemic, with revenues more than doubling in 2020 to $6.8 million, according to filings made with charity regulators. Kennedy released a book in 2021, The Real Anthony Fauci, in which he accused the U.S.’s top infectious disease doctor of assisting in „a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy”.
Both Democratic and Republican parties hold their own contests – called primaries – to find their presidential nominee. Mr Kennedy will be a rank outsider for the Democratic nomination, reports The BBC.
President Joe Biden has indicated he will run for re-election, though he has not yet formally declared his candidacy.On the Republican side, Donald Trump was first to declare his candidacy and he has been joined by others including former US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.
