Senators are eyeing the Trump nominee's links to Infowars and the far right.
Dan Friedman and David Corn at Mother Jones:
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. set out in late 2021 to hawk a conspiracy theory-drenched book attacking Anthony Fauci for his work to limit the spread of infectious diseases, he ran into a problem. Mainstream TV networks weren’t interested, due to Kennedy’s penchant for spreading falsehoods about childhood vaccinations, Covid, and other topics. “Nobody would put him on at that time,” a person who has worked with Kennedy said. “He wasn’t newsworthy, and this was not a subject anyone would talk about.” Thwarted, Kennedy went where his conspiracy theorizing was welcome. The longtime Democrat appeared on far-right Newsmax and One America News Network. He was also welcomed on the even more extreme Infowars, which was run by veteran conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has peddled outrageous lies, including the notion that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting that left 20 elementary school students and six educators dead was a hoax.
In a December 2, 2021, interview—conducted by Infowars host Kristi Leigh—Kennedy, in a rambling statement, seemed to liken mask mandates to policies imposed by “Hitler when he went into Romania and Czechoslovakia and Poland.” Kennedy also claimed he was working with unnamed prosecutors to ensure Fauci and others could be “brought to justice” for unspecified crimes. He complained that the New York Times bestseller list was falsely crediting actor Will Smith’s memoir with outselling his book. “That’s another indicia of censorship,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy did not appear again on the program, but this interview was part of an ongoing relationship between Jones and Kennedy. Jones has been heaping praise on Kennedy ever since, and Infowars has extensively promoted Kennedy’s book. Del Bigtree, a prominent anti-vax activist who served as a spokesman for Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign and who continues to advise him, has also appeared on Infowars, including a late-October appearance in which Jones interviewed him. Kennedy’s far-right book tour preceded the famous scion’s well-known journey from Democrat to independent to McDonald’s-clutching MAGA loyalist. Along the way, Kennedy cozied up to prominent Trumpists, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. In July 2021, Kennedy spoke at an event held by the Christian nationalist Reawaken America, and afterwards posed with MAGA stalwarts Michael Flynn and Roger Stone. Mother Jones obtained a picture of the meeting.
These ties may feel like old news, especially after a long parade of weird and troubling revelations about Kennedy—his brainworm, his fondness for messing with animal corpses, his supposed sexting stamina, his suggestion that vaccine foes have it worse than Anne Frank, even an allegation of sexual assault. And Kennedy’s endorsement of Donald Trump, who he once had blasted as a “terrible president,” certainly overshadowed his previous dabbling with MAGA extremists. But Trump’s nomination of Kennedy as Health and Human Services Secretary means his associations face new scrutiny. Two separate Senate panels—the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Finance Committee—are planing to hold hearings on his potential appointment. Only the Finance Committee will vote on the nomination; if successful in that committee, Kennedy would then face a vote in the full Senate. Kennedy’s willingness to affiliate with fringe figures, in particular Jones, is among among the issues Democrats plan to scrutinize, according to Senate aides. GOP senators, on the other hand, are more likely to take issue with Kennedy’s past support for abortion rights.
Mother Jones takes a look at RFK Jr.’s long history of cozying up with far-right conspiracist Alex Jones and his InfoWars outlet.
