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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s former environmental colleagues, along with several national organizations, are calling on him to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
On Friday, 12 environmental organizations released an open letter calling on Americans to “reject” RFK Jr. and the harmful beliefs he spreads before it's too late. The list of co-signers also includes the political arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council, where Kennedy once worked as an environmental lawyer.
The scathing letter, released just before Earth Day, calls RFK Jr. a “dangerous conspiracy theorist” and a “science denier.”
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not an environmental activist,” the letter states. “He is a dangerous conspiracy theorist and science denier whose plans will be a disaster for our communities and our planet.”
The National Resources Defense Council Action Fund also funds political ads in battleground states against the nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
“RFK Jr. is just a vanity candidate who chose to play the role of election spoiler for the benefit of Donald Trump, the worst environmental president in our nation's history,” one ad reads.
RFK Jr. is also notorious for being anti-vaccine, arguing in a January 2022 speech that compulsory vaccine passports would be similar to Nazi Germany's extermination policy. He later apologized for these comments.
The letter comes a day after at least 15 members of Kennedy's family formally endorsed President Joe Biden, in what may be the biggest snub yet for the candidate.
RFK Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy, said a vote for Biden would be “a vote for our democracy and decency.”
“There are only two candidates who have a chance of winning the presidential election in 2024,” she said Thursday. “We want to be clear that the best path forward for America is to re-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for four more years.”
Earlier this year, RFK Jr. had to apologize to his family after running a campaign ad during the Super Bowl that cited Kennedy's political legacy.
“My cousin's Super Bowl ad featured my uncle's face and my mother's face,” Bobby Shriver, another nephew of the former president, wrote in X magazine earlier this year. “She would be appalled by his deadly medical views. Respect for science, vaccines, and medical equity was in her DNA.”
As the polls between Biden and Trump tighten, the family officially endorses the president. Some Democrats have warned that RFK Jr.'s presence in the race could split the vote and make it more difficult for Biden to secure a second term.
More to come…
