Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
	Official portrait, 2025
26th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; February 13, 2025
President	Donald Trump
Deputy	Jim O'Neill
Preceded by	Xavier Becerra
Personal details
Born	Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.; January 17, 1954; Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic (until 2023); Independent (2023–present);
Spouses	Emily Black (m. 1982; div. 1994); Mary Richardson (m. 1994; died 2012); Cheryl Hines (m. 2014);
Children	6
Parents	Robert F. Kennedy; Ethel Kennedy;
Relatives	Kennedy family
Education	Harvard University (BA); London School of Economics; University of Virginia (JD); Pace University (LLM);

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist serving as the 26th United States secretary of health and human services since 2025. A member of the Kennedy family, he is a son of senator and former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy began his career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection: Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 1986, he became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law, and in 1987 he founded Pace's Environmental Litigation Clinic. In 1999, Kennedy founded the nonprofit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance. He first ran as a Democrat and later started an independent campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election, before withdrawing from the race and endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Since 2005, Kennedy has promoted vaccine misinformation^[1] and public-health conspiracy theories,^[2] including the chemtrail conspiracy theory,^[3] HIV/AIDS denialism,^[4] and the scientifically disproved claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism.^[5] He has drawn criticism for fueling vaccine hesitancy amid a social climate that gave rise to the deadly measles outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga.^[6]

Kennedy is the founder and former chairman^[7] of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group and proponent of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. He has written books including The Riverkeepers (1997), Crimes Against Nature (2004), The Real Anthony Fauci (2021), and A Letter to Liberals (2022).

^
Multiple sources:
^
Multiple sources:
- The Anti-Vaxx Playbook (PDF) (Report). Center for Countering Digital Hate. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- Oshin, Olafimihan (January 23, 2022). "Auschwitz Memorial says RFK Jr. speech at anti-vaccine rally exploits Holocaust tragedy". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. During a speech at the rally, Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and prominent anti-vaxxer, warned of a massive surveillance network created with satellites in space and 5G mobile networks collecting data.
- Lambert, Harper (January 25, 2022). "Cheryl Hines Blasts Husband RFK Jr. for Holocaust Remark". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. Cheryl Hines has publicly condemned a statement made by her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a rally on Sunday, in which the environmental lawyer and conspiracy theorist likened COVID regulations to the Holocaust.
- Pengelli, Martin (December 18, 2021). "Guests urged to be vaccinated at anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr's party". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022. The younger Kennedy has campaigned on environmental issues but is also a leading vaccines conspiracy theorist and activist against shots including those approved to combat Covid-19, which has killed more than 805,000 in the US and more than 5.3 million worldwide.
- Dorn, Sara; Pastis, Stephen (November 15, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories: Here's What Trump's Pick For Health Secretary Has Promoted". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
- Huynh, Anjali; Rosenbluth, Teddy (July 6, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories Go Beyond Vaccines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2025. Retrieved October 12, 2023. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, is a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories who has leaned heavily on misinformation as he mounts his long-shot 2024 campaign for the Democratic nomination.
^ Nicholls, Flynn (November 18, 2024). "What RFK Jr Has Said About Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory". Newsweek. Retrieved August 31, 2025. In March 2023, Kennedy hosted chemtrail activist Dane Wigington on his podcast. The episode was titled "Are Chemtrails Real?" At one point he [Kennedy] speculated as to whether chemtrails are causing "accumulations of aluminum, even in places in very, very remote parts of the earth". Kennedy said that it was "kind of frightening to think that somebody may be putting large amounts of bioavailable aluminum into the environment, spraying it in microscopic particulates from airplanes".;
^ Oliver, David (November 20, 2024). "RFK Jr., AIDS and why the LGBTQ+ community is in an uproar". USA Today. Retrieved August 31, 2025. But long before all that, in the 1980s, the medical and scientific community made a breakthrough: discovering that HIV caused AIDS. Yet that's a fact that's come under the microscope recently, in part thanks to Kennedy, who has repeatedly made false claims that a recreational drug popular among the gay community, "poppers" (amyl nitrite), was the culprit.
^ Cite error: The named reference FCRFKAutism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Graham-McLay, Charlotte. (February 3, 2025). "RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa's health chief says". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 31, 2025. The outbreak devastated the Pacific island nation in 2019, killing 83 people in a population of 200,000. Vaccination rates were historically low because of poor public health management and the 2018 deaths of two babies whose vaccines were incorrectly prepared, prompting fears that the MMR immunization was unsafe before the nature of the error was discovered. The government suspended vaccinations for 10 months before the outbreak—the period when Kennedy visited. His trip was organized by a Samoan anti-vaccine influencer, according to a 2021 blog post by Kennedy.
^ "Our Team". Children's Health Defense. Archived from the original on October 3, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2025.

[1] Multiple sources:
Mnookin 2017

Zadrozny & Adams 2021

CCDH 2020

BBC 2021

[2] Mnookin 2017

[3] Zadrozny & Adams 2021

[4] CCDH 2020

[5] BBC 2021

[2] Multiple sources:
The Anti-Vaxx Playbook (PDF) (Report). Center for Countering Digital Hate. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

Oshin, Olafimihan (January 23, 2022). "Auschwitz Memorial says RFK Jr. speech at anti-vaccine rally exploits Holocaust tragedy". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. During a speech at the rally, Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and prominent anti-vaxxer, warned of a massive surveillance network created with satellites in space and 5G mobile networks collecting data.

Lambert, Harper (January 25, 2022). "Cheryl Hines Blasts Husband RFK Jr. for Holocaust Remark". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. Cheryl Hines has publicly condemned a statement made by her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a rally on Sunday, in which the environmental lawyer and conspiracy theorist likened COVID regulations to the Holocaust.

Pengelli, Martin (December 18, 2021). "Guests urged to be vaccinated at anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr's party". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022. The younger Kennedy has campaigned on environmental issues but is also a leading vaccines conspiracy theorist and activist against shots including those approved to combat Covid-19, which has killed more than 805,000 in the US and more than 5.3 million worldwide.

Dorn, Sara; Pastis, Stephen (November 15, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories: Here's What Trump's Pick For Health Secretary Has Promoted". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.

Huynh, Anjali; Rosenbluth, Teddy (July 6, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories Go Beyond Vaccines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2025. Retrieved October 12, 2023. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, is a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories who has leaned heavily on misinformation as he mounts his long-shot 2024 campaign for the Democratic nomination.

[7] The Anti-Vaxx Playbook (PDF) (Report). Center for Countering Digital Hate. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[8] Oshin, Olafimihan (January 23, 2022). "Auschwitz Memorial says RFK Jr. speech at anti-vaccine rally exploits Holocaust tragedy". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. During a speech at the rally, Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and prominent anti-vaxxer, warned of a massive surveillance network created with satellites in space and 5G mobile networks collecting data.

[9] Lambert, Harper (January 25, 2022). "Cheryl Hines Blasts Husband RFK Jr. for Holocaust Remark". TheWrap. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022. Cheryl Hines has publicly condemned a statement made by her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a rally on Sunday, in which the environmental lawyer and conspiracy theorist likened COVID regulations to the Holocaust.

[10] Pengelli, Martin (December 18, 2021). "Guests urged to be vaccinated at anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr's party". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022. The younger Kennedy has campaigned on environmental issues but is also a leading vaccines conspiracy theorist and activist against shots including those approved to combat Covid-19, which has killed more than 805,000 in the US and more than 5.3 million worldwide.

[11] Dorn, Sara; Pastis, Stephen (November 15, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories: Here's What Trump's Pick For Health Secretary Has Promoted". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 12, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.

[12] Huynh, Anjali; Rosenbluth, Teddy (July 6, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Conspiracy Theories Go Beyond Vaccines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2025. Retrieved October 12, 2023. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, is a leading vaccine skeptic and purveyor of conspiracy theories who has leaned heavily on misinformation as he mounts his long-shot 2024 campaign for the Democratic nomination.

[chemtrail-3] Nicholls, Flynn (November 18, 2024). "What RFK Jr Has Said About Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory". Newsweek. Retrieved August 31, 2025. In March 2023, Kennedy hosted chemtrail activist Dane Wigington on his podcast. The episode was titled "Are Chemtrails Real?" At one point he [Kennedy] speculated as to whether chemtrails are causing "accumulations of aluminum, even in places in very, very remote parts of the earth". Kennedy said that it was "kind of frightening to think that somebody may be putting large amounts of bioavailable aluminum into the environment, spraying it in microscopic particulates from airplanes".;

[4] Oliver, David (November 20, 2024). "RFK Jr., AIDS and why the LGBTQ+ community is in an uproar". USA Today. Retrieved August 31, 2025. But long before all that, in the 1980s, the medical and scientific community made a breakthrough: discovering that HIV caused AIDS. Yet that's a fact that's come under the microscope recently, in part thanks to Kennedy, who has repeatedly made false claims that a recreational drug popular among the gay community, "poppers" (amyl nitrite), was the culprit.

[FCRFKAutism-5] Cite error: The named reference FCRFKAutism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] Graham-McLay, Charlotte. (February 3, 2025). "RFK Jr. misled the US Senate on measles deaths, Samoa's health chief says". The Associated Press. Retrieved August 31, 2025. The outbreak devastated the Pacific island nation in 2019, killing 83 people in a population of 200,000. Vaccination rates were historically low because of poor public health management and the 2018 deaths of two babies whose vaccines were incorrectly prepared, prompting fears that the MMR immunization was unsafe before the nature of the error was discovered. The government suspended vaccinations for 10 months before the outbreak—the period when Kennedy visited. His trip was organized by a Samoan anti-vaccine influencer, according to a 2021 blog post by Kennedy.

[7] "Our Team". Children's Health Defense. Archived from the original on October 3, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]