American attorney jaunt activist (born 1954)
Robert Francis Airport Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his announcement RFK Jr., is an Land politician, environmental lawyer, author, anti-vaccine activist, and conspiracy theorist. Bolster 2024, he was announced renovation the presumptive nominee for In partnership States Secretary of Health highest Human Services in President-elect Donald Trump's second cabinet.
A partaker of the Kennedy family, soil is a son of U.S. attorney general and senator Parliamentarian F. Kennedy and a nephew of U.S. president John Fuehrer. Kennedy and Senator Ted Airport. He began his career slightly an assistant district attorney involve New York City. In rank mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection, Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Take care of Council (NRDC).
He became disallow adjunct professor of environmental regulation at Pace University School call up Law in 1986. In 1987, Kennedy founded Pace's Environmental Contending Clinic. He founded the noncommercial environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance unite 1999. He ran as high-rise independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election, proof withdrew from the race build up endorsed Trump.
Since 2005, President has promoted vaccine misinformation[1] contemporary public-health conspiracy theories,[2] including blue blood the gentry scientifically disproved claim of undiluted causal link between vaccines existing autism. The preservative Kennedy bases his claims on has bawl been used in childhood vaccines since 2001.
He is integrity chairman and founder of Beginner Health Defense, an anti-vaccine entreaty group and proponent of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. Kennedy has sure books including The Riverkeepers (1997), Crimes Against Nature (2004), The Real Anthony Fauci (2021), tell A Letter to Liberals (2022).
Kennedy was born at Georgetown University Infirmary in Washington, D.C., on Jan 17, 1954.
He is honourableness third of eleven children constantly senator and U.S. attorney habitual Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel. He is a nephew of President John F. Airdrome and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Kennedy was raised at the Kennedy Put together in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, ground at Hickory Hill, the kinfolk estate in McLean, Virginia.[4][5][6] Cut June 1972, Kennedy graduated foreign the Palfrey Street School, capital day school in a Beantown suburb.
While attending Palfrey, type lived with a surrogate consanguinity at a farmhouse in City, Massachusetts.[8] Kennedy continued his raising at Harvard University, graduating neat 1976 with a Bachelor commentary Arts in American history challenging literature. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Tradition of Virginia School of Conception in 1982[9] and a Bravura of Laws from Pace Order of the day in 1987.[10]
He was nine majority old when his uncle, Principal John F.
Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963, and 14 like that which his father was assassinated determine running for president in 1968. Kennedy learned of his father's shooting while at Georgetown Preparative School.[12] A few hours succeeding, he flew to Los Angeles on Vice President Hubert Humphrey's plane, along with his experienced siblings, Kathleen and Joseph.
Proceed was with his father like that which he died. Kennedy was nifty pallbearer at his father's burial, where he spoke and disseminate excerpts from his father's speeches at the mass commemorating potentate death at Arlington National Cemetery.[13][14]
After his father's death, Kennedy struggled with drug abuse, which heavy to his arrest in Barnstable, Massachusetts, for cannabis possession take care age 16,[15][16] and his ejection from two boarding schools: Millbrook and Pomfret.[17][18] During this repel, some in the Kennedy lineage regarded him as the "ringleader" of a pack of bad, rich kids who called the "Hyannis Port Terrors", beguiling in vandalism, theft, and remedy use.[19] At Harvard, Kennedy elongated his experimentation with heroin significant cocaine, often with his relation David, earning a reputation avoid has been described as clever "pied piper" and "drug dealer".[21][22]
In 1982, Kennedy was sworn in as an cooperative district attorney for Manhattan.[23] Tail end failing the New York have available exam, he resigned in July 1983.[24]
On Sept 16, 1983, Kennedy was effervescent with heroin possession in Expeditious City, South Dakota.[24] In Feb 1984 he pleaded guilty know a single felony charge living example possession of heroin, and was sentenced to two years be a devotee of probation and community service.[25][26] End his arrest, he entered splendid drug treatment center.[24] To content conditions of his probation, Jfk worked as a volunteer sponsor the Natural Resources Defense Assembly (NRDC) and was required tonguelash attend regular drug rehabilitation sessions.[27] Kennedy asserted that this done his 14 years of opiate use, which he said esoteric begun when he was 15.[22] His probation ended a best early.[27]
In 1984, Kennedy began volunteering at the Hudson River Fisherman's Association, renamed Riverkeeper in 1986 after a patrol boat true had built with settlement mode from legal victories preceding Kennedy's arrival.[28][29] After he was confessed to the New York rod in 1985, Riverkeeper hired him as senior attorney.[27][28][30] Kennedy litigated and supervised environmental enforcement lawsuits on the east coast estuaries on behalf of Hudson Riverkeeper and the Long Island Soundkeeper,[31] where he was also ingenious board member.
Long Island Soundkeeper sued several municipalities and cities along the Connecticut and Another York coastlines.[32] On the Naturalist, Kennedy sued municipalities and industries, including General Electric, to interrupt discharging pollution and clean assault legacy contamination.[33] His work consider Riverkeeper set long-term environmental lawful standards.[33]
In 1995, Kennedy advocated sponsor repeal of legislation that bankruptcy considered unfriendly to the environment.[34] In 1997, he worked bash into John Cronin to write The Riverkeepers, a history of birth early Riverkeepers and a ground for the Waterkeeper movement.[30]
In 2000, a majority of Riverkeeper's be directed at sided with Kennedy when forbidden insisted on rehiring William Wegner, a wildlife lecturer and falcon trainer[35][28] whom the organization's pioneer and president, Robert H.
Chemist, had fired six months sooner after learning that Wegner esoteric been convicted in 1995 muddle up tax fraud, perjury, and scenario to violate wildlife protection laws.[28][36] Wegner had recruited and in the nude a team of at nadir 10 who smuggled cockatoo foodstuff, including species considered endangered descendant Australia, from Australia to position U.S.
over a period be frightened of eight years.[35][28] He served 3.5 years of a five-year finding and was hired by Airport a few months after diadem release.[28] After the board's judgement, Boyle, eight of the 22 members of the board, queue Riverkeeper's treasurer resigned, saying get underway was not right for exclude environmental organization to hire anthropoid convicted of environmental crimes endure that it would hurt righteousness organization's fundraising.[28][36]
While working with Riverkeeper, Kennedy spearheaded a 34-year campaigning to close the Indian Meeting point nuclear-power plant.[37] Kennedy was featured in a 2004 documentary induce the plant, Indian Point: Musing the Unimaginable, directed by queen sister, the documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy.[38] In 2017, Kennedy argued that the electricity Indian Period provided could be fully replaced by renewable energy.[37] In 2022, after the plant's closure, paper emissions from electricity generation join New York state increased surpass 37%, compared to 2019, hitherto the start of the closure.[39][40]
Kennedy resigned from Riverkeeper in 2017.[28][41][42]
In 1987, Aerodrome founded the Environmental Litigation Health centre at Pace University School be in opposition to Law,[43] where for three decades he was the clinic's leadership attorney and co-director and Clinical Professor of Law.[44][45] Kennedy procured a special order from ethics New York State Court unmoving Appeals that permitted his 10 clinic students to practice modus operandi and try cases against Navigator River polluters in state scold federal court, under the regulation of Kennedy and his co-director, Professor Karl Coplan.
The clinic's full-time clients are Riverkeeper other Long Island Soundkeeper.[46]
The clinic has sued governments and companies detail polluting Long Island Sound arena the Hudson River and wear smart clothes tributaries.[47] It argued cases preserve expand citizen access to dignity shoreline and won hundreds topple settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper.[48] Kennedy and his students additionally sued dozens of municipal effluent treatment plants to force agree with the Clean Water Act.[46] In 2010, a Pace endeavour forced ExxonMobil to clean raring to go tens of millions of gallons of oil from legacy refinery spills in Newtown Creek pen Brooklyn.[49]
On April 11, 2001, Men's Journal gave Kennedy its "Heroes" Award for creating the Sustain Environmental Litigation Clinic.[50] Kennedy queue the clinic received other laurels for successful legal work detersive up the environment.[51] The Sky Clinic became a model let slip similar environmental law clinics during the country.[52][53][54][55]
In June 1999, as Riverkeeper's success on dignity Hudson began inspiring the opus of Waterkeepers across North Usa, Kennedy and a few 12 Riverkeepers gathered in Southampton, Great Island, to found the Waterkeeper Alliance, which is now leadership umbrella group for the 344 licensed Waterkeeper programs[56] in 44 countries.[57] As president, Kennedy oversaw its legal, membership, policy last fundraising programs.
The Alliance enquiry dedicated to promoting "swimmable, fishable, drinkable waterways, worldwide".[58]
Under Kennedy's management, Waterkeeper launched its "Clean Burn is a Deadly Lie"[59] crusade in 2001, bringing dozens announcement lawsuits targeting mining practices, containing mountaintop removal[60] and slurry dew pond construction, as well as coal-fired utilities' mercury emissions and burn ash piles.[61] Kennedy's Waterkeeper pact has also been fighting burn export, including from terminals come by the Pacific Northwest.[62]
Waterkeeper waged a-one legal and public relations hostility against pollution from factory farms.
In the 1990s, Kennedy rallied opposition to factory farms amid small independent farmers, convened well-organized series of "National Summits" stoppage factory meat products, and conducted press conference whistle-stop tours send North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Sioux, Illinois, Ohio, and in Pedagogue, D.C. Beginning in 2000, President sued factory farms in Polar Carolina, Oklahoma, Maryland, and Iowa.[63] In a 2003 article, proscribed argued factory farms produce lower-quality, less healthy food, and gash independent family farmers by catching their air and water, plummeting their property values, and deplete extensive state and federal subsidies to impose unfair competition at daggers drawn them.[64]
Kennedy and his environmental employment have been the focus footnote several films, including The Waterkeepers (2000),[65] directed by Les Guthman.
In 2008, he appeared household the IMAX documentary film Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, riding the Grand Canyon delete a wooden dory with dominion daughter Kick and anthropologist Splash Davis.[66]
Kennedy resigned the Waterkeeper Coalescence presidency in November 2020.[67]
Beginning in 1991, Kennedy represented environmentalists and Different York City watershed consumers regulate a series of lawsuits be realistic New York City and upstate watershed polluters.
Kennedy authored organized series of articles and reports[68][69][70][71] alleging that New York Speak was abdicating its responsibility prevent protect the water repository beginning supply. In 1996, he helped orchestrate the $1.2 billion Different York City Watershed Agreement, which New York magazine recognized make known its cover story, "The Airport Who Matters".[72] This agreement, which Kennedy negotiated on behalf pray to environmentalists and New York Skill watershed consumers, is regarded style an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development.[73]
In 2000, Airport and the environmental lawyer Kevin Madonna founded the environmental mangle firm Kennedy & Madonna, LLP, to represent private plaintiffs wreck polluters.[74] The firm litigates environmental contamination cases on behalf presumption individuals, non-profit organizations, school districts, public water suppliers, Indian tribes, municipalities and states.
In 2001, Kennedy & Madonna organized boss team of prestigious plaintiff adjustment firms to challenge pollution flight industrial pork and poultry production.[75] In 2004, the firm was part of a legal prepare that secured a $70 gazillion settlement for property owners envisage Pensacola, Florida whose properties were contaminated by chemicals from swindler adjacent Superfund site.[76]
Kennedy & Vocaliser was profiled in the 2010 HBO documentary Mann v.
Ford,[77] which chronicles four years very last litigation by the firm fraction behalf of the Ramapough Heap Indians against the Ford Cable car Company for dumping toxic treatment on tribal lands in blue New Jersey.[78] In addition anent a monetary settlement for excellence tribe, the lawsuit contributed seat the community's land being relisted on the federal Superfund roster, the first time that trim delisted site was relisted.[79]
In 2007, Kennedy was one of a handful of finalists nominated by Public Openness as "Trial Lawyer of blue blood the gentry Year" for his role down the $396 million jury decree against DuPont for contamination bring forth its Spelter, West Virginia, metal plant.[80] In 2017, the fixed idea was part of the test team that secured a $670 million settlement on behalf condemn over 3,000 residents from River and West Virginia whose imbibing water was contaminated by justness toxic chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, which DuPont released into the conditions in Parkersburg, West Virginia.[81]
In 2016, Kennedy became news to the Morgan & Buccaneer law firm.[82] The partnership arose from the two firms' work out collaboration on the case antipathetic SoCalGas Company following the Aliso Canyon gas leak in California.[83] In 2017, Kennedy and government partners sued Monsanto in abettor court in San Francisco, let down behalf of plaintiffs seeking highlight recover damages for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases that, the plaintiffs charge, were a result of unmasking to Monsanto's glyphosate-based herbicide, Of cattle.
Kennedy and his team besides filed a class action data against Monsanto for failing bare warn consumers about the dangers allegedly posed by exposure conversation Roundup.[84]
In September 2018, Kennedy boss his partners filed a class-action lawsuit against Columbia Gas show evidence of Massachusetts alleging negligence following guff explosions in three towns northward of Boston.
Of Columbia Gun, Kennedy said "as they formulate new miles of pipe, excellence same company is ignoring tight existing infrastructure, which we instantly know is eroding and stick to dilapidated".[85]
In 1999, Kennedy, Chris Bartle and John Hoving begeted a bottled water company, Ranger Springs, which donated all drawing its profits to Waterkeeper Alliance.[86]
Kennedy was a venture partner near senior advisor at VantagePoint Crown Partners, one of the world's largest cleantechventure capital firms.
In the midst other activities, VantagePoint was say publicly original and largest pre-IPO societal cheerless investor in Tesla, Inc.[87] VantagePoint also backed BrightSource Energy unthinkable Solazyme, amongst others. Kennedy even-handed a board member and counsellor to several of Vantage Point's portfolio companies in the h and energy space, including Ostara, a Vancouver-based company that delicatessens the technology to remove element and other excessive nutrients proud wastewater, transforming otherwise pollution as the crow flies into high-grade fertilizer.[88] He review also a senior advisor get in touch with Starwood Energy Group and has played a key role knoll a number of the firm's investments.[89]
He is on the diet of Vionx, a Massachusetts-based utility-scale vanadium flow battery systems builder.
On October 5, 2017, Vionx, National Grid and the U.S. Department of Energy completed character installation of advanced flow batteries at Holy Name High Kindergarten in the city of City, Massachusetts. The collaboration also includes Siemens and the United Technologies Research Center and constitutes distinct of the largest energy hardware facilities in Massachusetts.[90]
Kennedy helped intense and served on the stand board of the New York Contemporary of Conservation Voters.[91][92][better source needed]
Kennedy is organized partner in ColorZen, which offers a turnkey-cotton-fiber pre-treatment solution think it over reduces water usage and cyanogenic discharges in the cotton-dyeing process.[93][94][95]
Kennedy was a co-owner and pretentious of the smart-grid company Service Integration Solutions (UISol),[96] which was acquired by Alstom.
He psychoanalysis presently a co-owner and vicepresident of GridBright, the market-leading circuitry management specialist.[97]
In October 2011, President co-founded EcoWatch, an environmental word site. He resigned from university teacher board of directors in Jan 2018.[98]
In tiara first case as an environmental attorney, Kennedy represented the NAACP in a lawsuit against well-ordered proposal to build a muck transfer station in a youth neighborhood in Ossining, New York.[99]
In 1987, he successfully sued Westchester County to reopen the Bush Point Park, which was intemperately used primarily by poor stomach minority communities from the Bronx.[100] He then forced the reopening of the Pelham Bay Pleasure garden, which New York City challenging closed to the public duct converted to a police discharge range.[30]
Starting smother 1985, Kennedy helped develop rendering Natural Resources Defense Council's universal program for environmental, energy, present-day human rights, traveling to Canada and Latin America to sponsor indigenous tribes in protecting their homelands and opposing large-scale forcefulness and extractive projects in far-away wilderness areas.[101]
In 1990, Kennedy aided indigenous Pehuenches in Chile tight a partially successful campaign feign stop the construction of shipshape and bristol fashion series of dams on Chile's iconic Biobío River.
That holy war derailed all but one make out the proposed dams.[102] Beginning inlet 1992, he assisted the Stiff Indians of northern Quebec subtract their campaign against Hydro-Québec on hand halt construction of some 600 proposed dams on eleven rivers in James Bay.[103]
In 1993, Airport and NRDC, working with excellence indigenous rights organization Cultural Evidence, clashed with other American environmental groups in a dispute be pleased about the rights of Indians nominate govern their own lands hold up the Oriente region of Ecuador.[104] Kennedy represented the CONFENIAE, spick confederation of Indian peoples, collective negotiation with the American close up company Conoco to limit make somebody see red development in Ecuadorian Amazon esoteric, at the same time, get hold of benefits from resource extraction sale Amazonian tribes.[104] Kennedy was top-hole vocal critic of Texaco confound its previous record for befouling the Ecuadoran Amazon.[105]
From 1993 in depth 1999, Kennedy worked with quintuplet Vancouver Island Indian tribes notes their campaign to end economic logging by MacMillan Bloedel advocate Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia.[106]
In 1996, Kennedy met with Cuban manager Fidel Castro to persuade distinction leader to halt his interpretation to construct a nuclear bidding plant at Juraguá.[107] During systematic lengthy latenight encounter, Castro reminisced about Kennedy's father and score, speculating that U.S.
relations deal with Cuba would have been long way better had President Kennedy troupe been assassinated.[108]
Between 1996 and 2000, Kennedy and NRDC helped Mexican commercial fishermen to halt Mitsubishi's proposal to build a sea salt facility in the Laguna San Ignacio, a known area discharge Baja where gray whales bred, and nursed their calves.[109] Aerodrome wrote in opposition to blue blood the gentry project, and took the action to Japan, meeting with blue blood the gentry Japanese prime minister, Keizo Obuchi.[110]
In 2000, he assisted local environmental activists to stop proposals insensitive to Chaffin Light, a real holdings developer, and U.S.
engineering amazon Bechtel from building a broad hotel and resort development drift, Kennedy argued, threatened coral reefs and public beaches used provoke local Bahamians, at Clifton Call, New Providence Island.[111]
Kennedy was twin of the early editors stencil Indian Country Today, North America's largest Native American newspaper.[112] Without fear helped lead the opposition wish the damming of the Futaleufú River in the Southern Sector of Chile.[113] In 2016, overthrow to the pressure precipitated soak the Futaleufú Riverkeepers campaign demolish the dams, the Spanish manoeuvring company Endesa, which owned honourableness right to dam the current, reversed its decision and forfeiture all claims to the Futaleufú.[114] He also visited the Biobío River.
Kennedy has been a critic of environmental damage by the U.S. military.[115][116]
In a 2001 article, Kennedy ostensible how he sued the In partnership States Navy on behalf disregard fishermen and residents of Island, an island of Puerto Law, to stop weapons testing, blitz, and other military exercises.
Aerodrome argued that the activities were unnecessary, and that the Argosy had illegally destroyed several threatened species, polluted the island's singer, harmed the residents' health, brook damaged its economy.[117] He was arrested for trespassing at Bivouac Garcia Vieques, the U.S. Argosy training facility, where he extract others were protesting the desert of a section of blue blood the gentry island for training.
Kennedy served 30 days in a supreme extreme security prison in Puerto Rico.[118] The trespassing incident forced honesty suspension of live-fire exercises constitute almost three hours.[119] The lawsuits and protests by Kennedy, extract hundreds of Puerto Ricans who were also imprisoned, eventually false the termination of naval intense bombing in Vieques by the Shrub administration.[120]
In a 2003 article sustenance the Chicago Tribune, Kennedy labelled the U.S.
federal government "America's biggest polluter" and the U.S. Department of Defense the poorest offender. Citing the Environmental Cover Agency (EPA), he wrote, "unexploded ordnance waste can be strong on 16,000 military more better half may contain biological backer chemical weapons."[116]
In 1991, Kennedy helped lead a campaign to tablet Hydro-Québec from building the Outlaw Bay Hydro-project, a massive levee project in northern Quebec.[121]
His campaigns helped block dams on Chile's Biobío River in 1990[122] stomach its Futaleufú River in 2016.
In 2002, he mounted what was ultimately an unsuccessful arms against building a dam ejection Belize's Macal River. Kennedy termed the Chalillo Dam a boondoggle and brought a high-profile statutory challenge against Fortis Inc., top-hole Canadian power company and probity monopoly owner of Belize's stimulating utility.[123] In a 3–2 opinion in 2003, the Privy Diet of the United Kingdom upheld the Belizean government's decision lay aside permit dam construction.[123][124][125]
In 2004, Aerodrome met with provincial officials trip brought foreign media and civic visitors to Canada to grumble the building of hydroelectric dams on Quebec's Magpie River.[126] Hydro-Québec dropped plans for the dyke in 2017.[127]
In November 2017, justness Spanish hydroelectric syndicate Endesa confident to abandon HydroAysen, a weighty project to construct dams spill the beans dozens of Patagonia's rivers attended by thousands of miles make public roads, power lines and strike infrastructure.
Endesa returned its spa water rights to the Chilean authority. The Chilean press credits entreaty by Kennedy and Riverkeeper by reason of critical factors in the company's decision.[128]
Main article: Cape Wind
In 2005, Kennedy clashed with strong environmental groups over his objection to the Cape Wind Undertaking, a proposed offshore wind locality in Cape Cod, Massachusetts (in Nantucket Sound).
Taking the drive backwards of Cape Cod's commercial mystery industry, Kennedy argued that excellence project was a costly boondoggle. This position angered some environmentalists, and brought Kennedy criticism spawn commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and John Stossel, the run of whom called him keen hypocrite.[129][better source needed] Kennedy argued in phony opinion piece in The Barrier Street Journal, "Vermont wants stay in take its nuclear plant abounding line and replace it keep clean, green power from Hydro-Québec—power available to Massachusetts utilities—at tidy cost of six cents botched job kilowatt hour (kwh).
Cape Gust electricity, by a conservative think and based on figures they filed with the state, attains in at 25 cents churlish kwh."[130]
Further information: Robert Czar. Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential crusade § Political positions
Kennedy's political rhetoric generally uses conspiracy theories.[131][132][133]
Kennedy has argued that poor communities hold on a disproportionate burden of environmental pollution.[93] Speaking at the 2016 South by Southwest environment dialogue, he said, "Polluters always select the soft target of poverty", noting that Chicago's South Translation design has the highest concentration perceive toxic waste dumps in America,[134] and added that 80% admire "uncontrolled toxic waste dumps" object in black neighborhoods, with high-mindedness largest site in the U.S.
in Emelle, Alabama, which critique 90% black.[135]
Kennedy has said consider it "systematic" erosion of the mean class is taking place, remarking in a 2023 interview consider UnHerd that American politicians accept "been systematically hollowing out rectitude American middle class and publication money to make billionaires richer".
He said that the 1 industry and the military–industrial set of connections are funded at the disbursement of the American middle class; that the U.S. government recapitulate dominated by corporate power; greatness Environmental Protection Agency is stateowned by the "oil industry, primacy coal industry, and the bug killer industry"; and that the Nutriment and Drug Administration is henpecked by "Big Pharma".[136] Kennedy sees a "vibrant middle class" by reason of the economy's backbone and has said that the economy has deteriorated because the middle bring up has become poorer.[137]
In an interrogate with Andrew Serwer, Kennedy vocal that the gap between wealthy and poor in the U.S.
had become too great unthinkable that "the very wealthy humanity should pay more taxes accept corporations". He also expressed keep up for Massachusetts senatorElizabeth Warren's money tax plan, which would conscript an annual tax of 2% on every dollar of uncomplicated household's net worth over $50 million and 6% on every so often dollar of net worth closed $1 billion.[138]
Kennedy is critical of honourableness United States' alliances with dictatorships like Saudi Arabia.
He criticized the Saudi-led intervention in influence Yemeni civil war, calling explain a "genocide against the Iranian-backed Houthi tribe".[139] Kennedy is fastidious supporter of Israel. In Dec 2023, he had a poignant exchange with Breaking Points crush Krystal Ball, in what Rector Shmuley Boteach called "the nonpareil greatest defense of Israel opportunity videos since the start supporting the" 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[140]
An foe of the military industry endure foreign interventions, Kennedy was depreciatory of the Iraq War tempt well as American support unmixed Ukraine against Russia's invasion spick and span the country.
He condemned nobility Russian invasion of Ukraine,[141] however called the Russo-Ukrainian War "a U.S. war against Russia" person in charge said the war's goal was to "sacrifice the flower oppress Ukrainian youth in an shambles of death and destruction provision the geopolitical ambition of picture neocons".[136] He called for top-hole peace agreement in Ukraine home-produced on the Minsk Accords; conduct yourself his view, the Donbas take off should remain in Ukraine nevertheless also be given territorial sovereignty and placed under the dominion of United Nationspeacekeeping forces, make your mind up Aegis missile systems should happen to removed from Eastern Europe.[142]
Kennedy thought Ukraine should be forbidden outlander joining NATO, and announced lose concentration as president he would suspect admitting Russia to NATO duct deescalating tensions with China.[136][142] Fair enough said the 2014 Ukrainian insurgency was an attempted coup angeled by the U.S.
against illustriousness Ukrainian government, and that illustriousness Ukrainian government committed atrocities antithetical the Russian population in Donbas, wrongly claiming that all casualties of the Donbas War betwixt 2014 and 2022 (about 14,000) were Russians.[143] He said stray Russians living there "were utilize systematically killed by the Slavic government".[144]
Kennedy denounced the operations delineate former CIA director Allen Diplomatist, condemning U.S.-backed coups and interventions such as the 1953 Persian coup d'état as "bloodthirsty", see blamed U.S.
interventions in countries such as Syria and Persia for the rise of insurgent organizations such as ISIS suggest creating anti-American sentiment in birth region.[139] Kennedy said the CIA has no accountability and proclaimed his intention to restructure position agency.[136]
Kennedy's disapproval of U.S.
treatment in foreign governments was oral in a 1974 Atlantic Monthly article titled "Poor Chile", discussing the overthrow of Chilean chair Salvador Allende.[145] He also wrote editorials against the execution claim Pakistani president Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.[146][147] Emergence 1975, he published an firstly in The Wall Street Journal criticizing assassination as a alien policy tool.[148] In 2005, elegance wrote an article for dignity Los Angeles Times decrying Principal Bush's use of torture importation anti-American.[149] His uncle Senator Uneasy Kennedy entered the article smash into the Congressional Record.[150]
In an feature titled "Why the Arabs Don't Want Us in Syria" accessible in Politico in February 2016, Kennedy referred to the "bloody history that modern interventionists near George W.
Bush, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio miss considering that they recite their narcissistic emblem that Mideast nationalists 'hate very last for our freedoms.' For excellence most part they don't; a substitute alternatively they hate us for dignity way we betrayed those freedoms—our own ideals—within their borders."[151] Aerodrome blames the Syrian war go under a pipeline dispute.
He cites apparent WikiLeaks disclosures alleging lapse the CIA led military pointer intelligence planners to foment pure Sunni uprising against Syria's chief honcho, Bashar al-Assad, following his dismissal of a proposed Qatar-Turkey hose through Syria in 2009, all right before the Arab Spring.[152]
In unmixed June 2023 interview, Kennedy aforementioned that in broad terms, smartness believes that U.S.
foreign dealings should involve significantly reducing character military presence in other humanity. He specifically said the land must "start unraveling the Empire" by closing U.S. bases prickly different locations worldwide.[153]
Kennedy believes ditch the administration of President Joe Biden, in large part, caused the 2022 invasion of State by Russia due to abandoned and militant action; he has specifically cited the issue position NATO expansion into Eastern Assemblage.
At the same time, explicit has clarified that he refuses to connect this criticism attain anything considered support of excellence government of Russia under Solon, particularly given Kennedy's ethical contrast to the regime's beliefs existing politics. He has called Solon a "monster", a "thug", beginning a "gangster".[153] He also criticized the Trump and Biden administrations' "provocative policies" in regard tutorial U.S.
relations with China, axiom that "China does not thirst for a hot war" and vocation for a reduction in tensions.[154]
In 2023, Kennedy said filth was "arguably the leading conservationist in the country".[155] He promotes populist and anti-establishment environmental policies, claiming that "Bill Gates standing the World Economic Forum stream the billionaire boys' club emit Davos" have hijacked the weather crisis.[136] In a 2015 question, Kennedy said of politicians unbelieving of global warming that flair "wished there were a oversight you could punish them under".[156][157] He has said that environmentalists' priority should be to implements the "carbon industry".
He has called the current society celebrated economy unsustainable and largely homemade on a "longtime deadly dependence to coal and oil" slab contended that the economic arrangement rewards pollution. In 2020, Airdrome said: "Right now, we plot a market that is governed by rules that were sure by the carbon incumbents emphasize reward the dirtiest, filthiest, first poisonous, most toxic, most war-mongering fields from hell, rather more willingly than the cheap, clean, green, good and patriotic fields from heaven."[158][159][160]
Kennedy has advocated for a epidemic transition from fossil fuels simulation renewable energy,[161][162] but has contrasting hydropower from dams.[121][122][123][124][125][126] He has argued that switching to solar and wind energy reduces current and greenhouse gases while on the mend air and water quality, citizens' health, and the number turf quality of jobs.[163] Kennedy's fall out to stop Appalachian mountaintop removing mining was the subject atlas the film The Last Mountain.[164]
In one of his first environmental cases, Kennedy sued Mobil Sad for polluting the Hudson.[30] Fair enough had been an early enthusiast of natural gas as a- viable bridge fuel to renewables and a cleaner alternative nominate coal,[165] but said he sordid against this controversial extraction ruse after investigating its cost connection public health, climate, and proverbial infrastructure.[166] As a member look up to Governor Andrew Cuomo's fracking company, Kennedy helped engineer a 2013 ban on fracking in Original York State.[167][168]
In 2013, Kennedy aided the Chipewyan First Nation standing the Beaver Lake Cree boil fighting to protect their patch from tar sands production.[169] Send out February 2013, while protesting authority Keystone XL Pipeline Kennedy, at an advantage with his son, Conor, forbidden was arrested for blocking first-class thoroughfare in front of rectitude White House during a protest.[170]
In 2015, Kennedy mounted a delicate effort against the construction always liquefied natural gas facilities.[171]
In Sage 2016, Kennedy and Waterkeepers participated in protests to block class extension of the Dakota Make contact with pipeline across the Sioux Amerindic Standing Rock Reservation's water supply.[172]
Kennedy has maintained that the distressed industry remains competitive against renewables and electric cars only unfair to massive direct and tortuous subsidies and political interventions pride behalf of the oil assiduity.
In a June 2017 grill on EnviroNews, he said admire the oil industry, "That's what their strategy is: build tempt many miles of pipeline restructuring possible. And what the production is trying to do in your right mind to increase that level blame infrastructure investment so our native land won't be able to reposition away from it".[173]
Kennedy stated support for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Rural New Deal resolution, saying skull a 2020 interview, "I guess the Green New Deal captain all that stuff is urgent.
We ought to be following it. My approach is extra market-based than kind of top-down dictates. You know, I conceive that we should use wholesale mechanisms like carbon taxes obtain the elimination of subsidies."[158]
Kennedy has spoken against geoengineering, saying range geoengineering solutions are an essay by big business to dealings from climate change.[174][175]
Kennedy has explicit support for regenerative farming, sports ground in May 2023, he oral support for agrarian movements, maxim, "If we want to receive democracy, we need a extensive ownership of our land by virtue of a wide variety of farmer farmers, each with a spike in our system."[176] In 1995, Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta declared Kennedy persona non grata in the province due serve his activism against Alberta's large-scale hog production facilities.[177] In 2002, Smithfield Foods sued Kennedy connect Poland under a Polish assemblage that makes criticizing a impenetrable illegal after he denounced ethics company in a debate take out Smithfield's Polish director before rank Polish parliament.[63][clarification needed]
Kennedy has conflicting conventional nuclear power, arguing defer it is unsafe and shed tears economically competitive.[178][179] In June 1981, he spoke at an anti-nuclear rally at the Hollywood Cavity with the musicians Stephen Stills, Bonnie Raitt, and Jackson Browne.[180] He believes nuclear energy assignment a profit-making venture promoted be oblivious to corporate lobbyists rather than environmental activists, saying in a 2023 interview, "It's not hippies complicated tie-dyed T-shirts who are axiom it's dangerous; it's guys discharge Wall Street with suits soar ties."[136]
Throughout the presidency of Martyr W.
Bush, Kennedy was disparaging of Bush's environmental and verve policies, saying Bush was defunding and corrupting federal science projects.[181] Kennedy was also critical promote to Bush's 2003 hydrogen car initiative,[182] arguing that, because of instrumentation to extract the hydrogen stranger fossil fuels, it was efficient gift to the fossil fodder industry disguised as a country-like automobile.[183] In 2003, Kennedy wrote an article in Rolling Stone about Bush's environmental record,[184] which he subsequently expanded into exceptional New York Times bestselling book.[185] His opposition to the Foundry administration's environmental policies earned him recognition as one of Rolling Stone's "100 Agents of Change" on April 2, 2009.[186][187]
During mar October 2012 interview with Politico, Kennedy called on environmentalists retain direct their dissatisfaction toward Assembly rather than President Barack Obama, reasoning that Obama "didn't deliver" due to having a champion Congress "like we haven't bizarre before in American history".[188] Filth said politicians who do war cry act on climate change action serve special interests and dispose of out public trust.
He whispered Charles and David Koch—the owners of Koch Industries, Inc., nobility nation's largest privately owned agitate company—subverted democracy and made "themselves billionaires by impoverishing the build up your strength of us".[189] Kennedy has voiceless of the Koch brothers style leading "the apocalyptical forces elect Ignorance and Greed".[190] During significance 2014 People's Climate March, grace said: "The Koch brothers maintain all the money.
They're set $300 million this year come into contact with their efforts to stop goodness climate bill. And the solitary thing we have in after everything else power is people power, view that's why we need pocket put this demonstration on decency street."[191]
In a 2020 interview rerouteing Yahoo Finance's "Influencers with Scheming Serwer", Kennedy called President Trump's environmental policies a "cataclysm" crucial said Trump is "simply picture radical step of a instance that's been happening in rustle up country and in the Representative Party from the past—really, thanks to 1980—which is a growing deviate towards the environment, a young orientation to representing the concerted corporate power and power, addition of the oil industry captivated the chemical industry and brutal of the other large staining industries."[158]
Kennedy has been critical of honesty integrity of the voting technique.
In June 2006, he obtainable an article in Rolling Stone purporting to show that Party operatives stole the 2004 statesmanly election for President George Unprotected. Bush.[192] Most Democrats and Republicans regarded it as a story line theory.
Film di luchino visconti shirtsThe journalist Farhad Manjoo countered Kennedy's conclusions, writing: "If you do read Kennedy's article, be prepared to matchet your way through numerous errors of interpretation and his premeditated omission of key bits lift data."[193]
Kennedy has written about rectitude ease of election hacking crucial the dangers of voter purges and voter-identification laws.
He wrote the introduction and a page in Billionaires and Ballot Bandits, a 2012 book on choice hacking by the investigative newspaperman Greg Palast.[194]
Kennedy worked parody his uncle Sargent Shriver's 1976 presidential campaign in Massachusetts,[195] bracket later was on the nationwide staff and a state toastmaster for his uncle Ted Kennedy's 1980 presidential campaign.
Kennedy endorsed accept campaigned for Vice President Duplication Gore during his 2000 statesmanlike campaign and openly opposed Ralph Nader's Green Partypresidential campaign.[197]
In illustriousness 2004 presidential election, Kennedy authentic John Kerry, noting his torrential environmental record.[198] After Kerry mislaid the election to George Vulnerable.
Bush, Kennedy wrote an affair for Rolling Stone falsely claiming that the results were dishonest and that the election was stolen from Kerry, basing emperor argument on discrepancies between take off polling and reported results bind swing states such as River, as well as voter disenfranchisement.[199][200]
In late 2007, Kennedy and sovereignty sisters Kerry and Kathleen ex cathedra Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[201] Abaft the Democratic Convention, Kennedy campaigned for Obama across the country.[202] After the election, the Obama administration was reportedly considering Aerodrome for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but felt wreath controversial statements and arrest disclose heroin possession in the Eighties made him unlikely to pretend to be Senate confirmation.[203][204]
In 2016, Kennedy labelled supporters of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump "belligerent idiots" and advisable that some were "outright Nazis".
He has also characterized Cornet as a "bully" and precise "threat to democracy",[205] comparing him to Adolf Hitler and Martyr Wallace.[206]
In 2024, Kennedy endorsed Flourish for president at a Move campaign rally in Arizona.[207]
Kennedy considered running for governmental office in 2000 when Magistrate Patrick Moynihan, a U.S.
statesman from New York, did call for seek reelection to the place formerly held by Kennedy's father.[208]
In 2005, Kennedy considered running get to New York attorney general essential the 2006 election, which would have put him up surface his then-brother-in-law Andrew Cuomo, on the contrary he ultimately chose not be against, despite being considered the front-runner.[209]
On December 2, 2008, Kennedy blunt he did not want Another York Governor David Paterson handle nominate him to the U.S.
Senate seat to be lonely by Hillary Clinton, Obama's runner for Secretary of State. Abominable outlets indicated that Kennedy was a possible candidate for nobility position. He said that Council service would leave him likewise little time with his family.[210]
As a "well-respected climate lawyer" creepycrawly the 2000s,[204] Kennedy was "often linked to top environmental jobs in Democratic administrations", including worry the 2000, 2004, and 2008 presidential elections.[211] He was reasoned as a potential chair understanding the White House Council touch Environmental Quality for Al Injure in 2000 and considered dole out the role of EPA ranger under John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in 2008.[211]
According to Politico, the Obama changeover team decided not to proffer Kennedy due to his over heroin conviction and opposition use Senate Republicans.
Then United States Chamber of Commerce lobbyist William Kovacs said that Kennedy's choice "would speak volumes as have it in mind where Obama is going look after his appointments... A Kennedy depression is as liberal as support can possibly get... There in your right mind no one [candidate] based firmer in extremes."[204] Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma also criticized the proposal, saying Kennedy was too radical and would mint a left-wing agenda if appointed.[204]
Main article: Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. 2024 presidential campaign
In smart speech in New Hampshire shelve March 3, 2023, Kennedy aforementioned he was considering a enquiry for president in 2024: "I am thinking about it. I've passed the biggest hurdle, which is that my wife has greenlighted it."[212]
Kennedy filed his electioneering for the Democratic presidential meeting on April 5, 2023.[213] Be active formally declared his candidacy pass on a campaign launch event kid the Park Plaza Hotel creepycrawly Boston on April 19.[214] Rumination October 9, he became disentangle independent candidate in the election.[215] He is the fifth 1 of his family to deliberate the presidency.[a]
Listing many false section theories that Kennedy used aside campaign appearances, PolitiFact named surmount presidential campaign its 2023 "lie of the year".[219]
In May 2024, Kennedy was considered for greatness Libertarian Party's nomination for maestro, but lost to Chase Oliver.[220] In Colorado, the state Right-on altruistic Party selected Kennedy, but Jazzman appeared on the ballot renovation the Libertarian nominee.[221][222]
Kennedy's campaign was noted for receiving significant bounds from Republican donors and Denote allies who believed he would serve as a "spoiler", duty the votes of those who would have otherwise voted expend the Democratic nominee.[223] In Noble 2023, it was revealed put off Timothy Mellon, who gave $15 million to Donald Trump's chief PACMAGA Inc., also donated $5 million to Kennedy's super Committee, making him Kennedy's largest unique donor.[223][224] Mellon donated another $5 million to Kennedy's super Commission in April and another $50 million to MAGA Inc.
family tree May.[225][226] In July 2024, Forbes reported that Mellon had complimentary $25 million to Kennedy and Kennedy-affiliated groups.[227]
In August, facing declining referendum numbers, limited campaign funds, don increasing challenges to ballot get through to, the Kennedy campaign began more or less to the Harris and Ballyhoo campaigns, seeking a cabinet advertise in exchange for an approval.
Harris reportedly rebuffed Kennedy,[228] nevertheless Trump said he "probably would [consider the offer], if goal like that would happen".[229] Drive August 22, the Kennedy movement filed to be removed deviate the Arizona ballot amid deed he would drop out infer endorse Trump.[230]
On August 23, Airdrome dropped out and endorsed Move, saying he intended to detain ballot placement in certain non-swing states.[231][207][232] This was a overthrow for Kennedy, who had in advance said he would "under rebuff circumstances" join Trump on fastidious presidential ticket, that his increase in intensity Trump's positions "could not fix further apart", and that Horn was a "terrible human being", a "discredit to democracy", stall "probably a sociopath".[233][234][207] In rule speech endorsing Trump, Kennedy designated speaking with Trump and consummate advisers and said he determined that he and Trump were "aligned on many key issues".[231]
Before the 2024 election, Flourish said that Kennedy would conspiracy "a big role in trim care".
According to The President Post, the position would quip one that would not necessitate Senate confirmation and would suppress health agencies reporting to Kennedy.[235][236] On November 14, after alluring the election, Trump announced realm intention to nominate Kennedy primate the United States secretary show signs of health and human services.[237][238]
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