I ask Kennedy whether distancing himself from the vaccine issue is strategic.
A university researcher who studies anti-vaccine misinformation said over text, “#GAMA: Give America Measles Again.” One advocate who leads a local vaccine education nonprofit asked me gravely, “How much damage could he actually, really do here?” People who have followed Kennedy for years aren’t convinced by the spin, and privately, are blunt about the harm they fear could come from a Kennedy administration. In a Facebook group where more than 4,000 people have gathered to organize events like Kennedy-branded Fourth of July parades, members have been workshopping possible appositives for their candidate, settling most recently on “Vaccine Safety Advocate.” But they’d really prefer to avoid the issue, as one poster put it, “by sticking to Kennedy’s campaign points as much as possible.” Kennedy’s supporters have gotten the message. He aligns more with a growing wing of vaccine-skeptic Republicans research and polling consistently shows modern-day conservatives are more susceptible to conspiracy theories and hold more conspiratorial worldviews generally. Kennedy’s views on vaccines put him at odds with most Americans, particularly Democrats. Titled “Running on Truth,” the video features heroes of the anti-vaccine movement who similarly skate past any talk of vaccines.Īnd Del Bigtree, founder of the second-best-funded anti-vaccine nonprofit (after Kennedy’s) who acts as Kennedy’s hype man at fundraisers, only winked at the reason for his endorsement, tweeting, “I just donated $100. Kennedy also doesn’t discuss vaccines in the 8-minute promotional video posted on his social platforms in June. Kennedy shrugs and says he’s always been open - it’s the press that’s hostile. He’s known to decline interview requests from large outlets, including a handful from me over the years, so I ask why he’s agreed to meet. Kennedy, 69, drove us to the trail in his taupe minivan, a beater without working seatbelts or back seats, meant for ferrying dogs and any wild animals he may find in need of help. Kennedy shows his command of his dogs, who obediently sit at attention, waiting for a treat. He flicks three treats into the air and the dogs snap up their rewards. Something about the way the dogs are perched, salivating, their trusting eyes glued to Kennedy, reminds me of the way the world has recently been gripped by conspiracy theories - many of which Kennedy has helped spread: ones that imagine clouds as government-sprayed chemicals, cellular networks as surveillance plots - and lifesaving vaccines as poison. If you don’t give the animal a treat every time, it actually makes them more obedient.” “It’s something called an intermittent reward system,” Kennedy, noticing my discomfort, explains of the lapse.
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