His name and his legacy carry weight, especially in Boston, despite controversy over some of his positions.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his campaign to run for president of the United States on Wednesday at the Boston Park Plaza hotel.
Kennedy, the oldest son of U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, is known widely for his anti-vaccine advocacy, a position that has been at odds with the public health and scientific community and members of his own family. Kennedy is running as a Democrat, challenging incumbent President Joe Biden for the nomination.
He was introduced by Dennis Kucinich, himself a former candidate for president, in a packed ballroom.
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Kennedy, 69, filed a statement of candidacy earlier this month with the Federal Election Commission.
Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also a contender in the Democratic race. Biden is expected to announce his campaign for re-election in the coming weeks.
Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother Robert F. Kennedy, was once a bestselling author and environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water.
But more than 15 years ago, he became fixated on a belief that vaccines are not safe. He emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement, and his work has been described by public health experts and even members of his own family as misleading and dangerous.
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.
His organization has targeted false claims at groups that may be more prone to distrust the vaccine, including mothers and Black Americans, experts have said, which could have resulted in deaths during the pandemic.
Kennedy has at times invoked his family’s legacy in his anti-vaccine work, including sometimes using images of President Kennedy.
His sister Kerry Kennedy, who runs Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the international rights group founded by their mother, Ethel, said her brother has at times removed some of the content at her request.
She told the Associated Press in a 2021 interview her brother is “completely wrong on this issue and very dangerous.”
