Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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 antivaccine 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 US 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 mid1980s 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 Paces 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 and publichealth conspiracy theories including the chemtrail conspiracy theory HIVAIDS denialism and the scientifically disproved claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism He has drawn criticism for fueling vaccine hesitancy amid a social climate that gave rise to the deadly measles outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga Kennedy is the founder and former chairman of Childrens Health Defense an antivaccine advocacy group and proponent of COVID19 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