“Everything — every statement that you just made about me is inaccurate,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in Congress, asserting first that he has never advised people in the Black community to avoid vaccinations.
(NOTE: NPR described a film he produced as “Kennedy and his allies in the anti-vaccine movement resurface and promote disproven claims about the dangers of vaccines, but it’s aimed squarely at a specific demographic: Black Americans.”)
Kennedy is running for President as a Democrat, a candidacy being greeted with open arms by Republicans who believe his libertarian streak and famous name can do some harm to President Biden‘s Democratic coalition.
Among Democrats, RFK Jr. is a controversial figure, pilloried for what has been characterized as his anti-vaccination stances broadly — and that goes beyond specific messaging allegedly aimed at the Black community. Even Kennedy’s own sister has cautioned people against trusting his views.
(Kerry Kennedy called RFK Jr.’s recent remarks about COVID being targeted for certain races “deplorable.”)
RFK Jr: I have never been anti-vax. I have never told the public avoid vaccination pic.twitter.com/zFkYlBTbo0
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 20, 2023
So many were surprised to hear Kennedy’s own take on his beliefs, which are in sharp conflict with the narrative surrounding him. Despite his previous positions and statements, Kennedy’s testimony in Congress revealed him to claim that he has “never been anti-vax.”
Kennedy offered the fact that his children are vaccinated as evidence of this, even saying that he himself is in “fully compliant with the vaccine schedule,” before adding “except for COVID.”
