Anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. targets Joe Biden in more ways than one

President Joe Biden has tapped another potential opponent for the 2024 presidential race.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Senator Robert F. Kennedy, filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Kennedy is running as a Democrat.

Kennedy is an environmental advocate and best-selling author who has made a name for himself in the anti-vaccine movement, including founding the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, an activist group decrying the effectiveness of vaccines.

Kennedy has been particularly vocal since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of the COVID vaccine. In January 2022, he appeared as a guest speaker at the Defeat the Mandates protest in Washington, DC, a demonstration that coincided with other anti-vaccine protest groups that had ties to conspiracy theory organizations like QAnon.

Last month, Kennedy, along with Children’s Health Defense, took legal action against Biden and several other federal officials for allegedly encouraging platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google to censor “constitutionally protected speech.” The 59 defendants in Kennedy’s class action lawsuit include White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Andrew Slavitt, Biden’s former senior COVID-19 adviser.

Kennedy is also suing the Justice Department, the FBI, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the 120-page lawsuit, Kennedy argues that the federal government intentionally suppressed “facts” on issues related to COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election and the US that it “doesn’t want the public to hear.” The New York Post 2020 article about Hunter Biden’s laptop.

Kennedy also filed a lawsuit in January against the Trust News Initiative, launched by the BBC in partnership with several other outlets to combat vaccine misinformation. The complaint – which the BBC lists the washington post, Reuters and AP as Defendants – Alleges that these media organizations have violated antitrust laws by working with companies like Twitter, Meta and Google, and alleges that the media has been “censored, demonetized, downgraded, throttled, banned in the shadows and/or were excluded.” In addition to Kennedy, other online news publishers are listed as plaintiffs.

In 2021, Kennedy published the book The real Anthony Fauci as an attack on the former top infectious disease doctor who claims he facilitated “a historic coup against Western democracy”. He also released a book titled that year the wuhan cover-up, accused US officials of plotting with China to hide the origins of COVID-19.

The Biden administration has already faced fierce attacks from House Republicans for allegedly blocking social media users from spreading misinformation, including on topics such as the COVID-19 vaccine and Hunter Biden’s laptop. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has also launched several inquiries into “arming” the federal government and has dedicated a new committee to these efforts.

Biden has yet to announce if he will run for another term in 2024, although hypothetically that could see him pitted against former President Donald Trump in a 2020 election rematch. Spiritual advisor and author Marianne Williamson became the first major Democrat to start her campaign last month.

news week emailed the White House for comment.