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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential campaign, 2024
Date: November 5, 2024  |
 Kamala Harris (D) Donald Trump (R) (won) Jill Stein (G) Chase Oliver (L) |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
| “ |
There have been independent candidates in this country before, but this time it’s going to be different because this time the independent is going to win. Three-quarters of Americans believe that President Biden is too old to govern effectively. President Trump faces multiple civil and criminal trials. Both of them have favorability ratings that are deep in negative territory. That’s what two-party politics has given us, and that’s why we need to pry lose from the hammerlock of the corrupt powers in Washington, D.C., and make this nation ours again.[1] |
” |
| —Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (October 2023)[2] | ||
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (I), an author and lawyer, announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election on April 5, 2023.[3] He ran in the Democratic primary until Oct. 9, 2023, when he announced he would instead run as an independent.[4] Kennedy withdrew from the presidential election on August 23, 2024, endorsing former President Donald Trump (R). Kennedy initially encouraged voters to still vote for him in non-battleground states, but his campaign later sent out an email saying, "No matter what state you live in, I urge you to vote for Donald Trump."[5][6]
Kennedy selected patent lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan (I) as his running mate on March 26, 2024.[7]
In the speech where Kennedy announced his independent candidacy, he said he would, "pursue a foreign policy that puts peace and diplomacy first, [...] "close the loopholes and giveaways that blow our budget, [...] rescue debtors instead of the banks during the next financial crisis, [...] clean up our soil, our water, our air, and protect our purple mountain Majesties, [...] unravel the corporate capture of our regulatory agencies, [... and] enact bold policies that are outside of the partisan conversation." Kennedy also said, "Big oil funds the Republicans, big tech funds the Democrats, big pharma and the military contractors make sure to give to both. Instead of two parties, we have this kind of uni party, a two-headed monster that’s constantly bickering with itself as it leads us all over a cliff."[2]
Biography
Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C. in 1954. He is the son of former U.S. Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and Ethel Kennedy.[8] Kennedy received a bachelor's degree in American history and literature from Harvard University, a law degree from the University of Virginia, and a master's degree in environmental law from Pace University.[8]
He began his career in 1982 as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.[9] Following an arrest for drug possession in 1983, Kennedy began volunteering for the Natural Resources Defense Council as part of the conditions of his probation.[10] He also volunteered for Riverkeeper, a nonprofit seeking to preserve the Hudson River, and became the organization's chief attorney in 1985.[8]
Kennedy went on to found the Pace University Environmental Litigation Clinic in 1987. He worked as the clinic's supervising attorney, co-director, and as a law professor at Pace University from 1986 to 2018. He founded the Waterkeeper Alliance, a group that sought to "strengthen and grow a global network of grassroots leaders protecting everyone’s right to clean water," in 1999, and served as its chairman and attorney until 2017.[11]
In 2016, Kennedy founded Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit seeking to "end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable and establish safeguards to prevent future harm." The organization said it participates in lawsuits to "assist with handling mandatory vaccination in schools, the workplace, and in travel -- as well as your right to informed consent."[12]
Ballot access
The section below displays states where Kennedy appeared on the ballot.
Campaign finance
Fundraising
The following chart displays noteworthy general election presidential candidates' overall fundraising over time. Note that the chart only displays data for principal campaign committees, not candidate-affiliated PACs or joint fundraising committees. Hover over each line for more specific figures.
Spending
The following chart displays noteworthy general election presidential candidates' overall spending over time. Note that the chart only displays data for principal campaign committees, not candidate-affiliated PACs or joint fundraising committees. Hover over each line for more specific figures.
Cash on hand
The following chart displays cash on hand—a measurement of how much money a campaign has currently available in its campaign accounts—for noteworthy general election presidential candidates as of each reporting deadline during the 2024 campaign cycle. Note that the chart only displays data for principal campaign committees, not candidate-affiliated PACs or joint fundraising committees.
Campaign advertisements
This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements supporting this candidate, as well as links to other ads. If you know of additional links that should be included, please email us.
Support
| August 18, 2024 |
| August 14, 2024 |
| August 13, 2024 |
- August 18, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Protecting Our Purple Mountains Majesties"
- August 14, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Both Parties Love Swamp Things"
- August 13, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: It’s Our Turn Now"
- August 10, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Why American Fishermen Are Going Under"
- August 3, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: It’s Our Turn Now"
- August 3, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Honoring Washington’s Vision of Healing the Divide"
- August 2, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: A Domestic Marshall Plan To End Poverty In America"
- July 31, 2024 - "The 'Weird' Game of Dividing Americans"
- July 28, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Unite America"
- July 5, 2024 - "HOPE RISES"
- July 4, 2024 - "Freedom Triumphs"
- July 3, 2024 - "What Happened At The Real Debate"
- June 18, 2024 - "All Eyes On Kennedy For President"
- June 7, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: My Invitation To Boomers"
- June 5, 2024 - "RFK Sr.: A Legacy Remembered"
- May 29, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Don’t Be Fooled, We Can & Will Win"
- May 27, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Remembering Their Sacrifice"
- May 20, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: The Solution To Pollution"
- April 30, 2024 - "RFK Jr.: Get To Know VP Candidate Nicole Shanahan"
- April 16, 2024 - "Are We Left Or Right?"
- March 28, 2024 - "How We Take Back The Power"
- October 11, 2023 - "My First Campaign Ad"
- September 7, 2023 - "This Is About You"
- September 2, 2023 - "I’ll Help You Buy A Home"
- August 29, 2023 - "Proud To Be A Populist"
- August 11, 2023 - "A Call To Service"
- July 26, 2023 - "Let’s Fight Censorship"
- July 18, 2023 - "It’s Not Capitalism’s Fault"
- July 10, 2023 - "Oasis In A Food Desert"
- July 4, 2023 - "Reclaim Democracy"
- June 23, 2023 - "A Nation of War or a Nation of Peace?"
- April 20, 2023 - "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Presidential Campaign Launch Video"
Campaign themes
Website
Policies from Kennedy's campaign website as of August 7, 2024, are excerpted below.
| “ |
It’s “We The People” Not “We The Corporations” Our food is unhealthy because Big Ag controls the Department of Agriculture. We have endless wars because military contractors control the Department of Defense, State Department, and intelligence agencies. The middle class is being decimated because Wall Street controls the Federal Reserve, Treasury, and SEC. Our environment is a toxic mess because big polluters and extractive industries control the EPA. Healthcare costs and chronic disease run rampant because Big Pharma controls the CDC, FDA, and NIH. Only an independent President beholden to neither major party can free our government from corporate capture. President Trump promised to drain the swamp, but he appointed corporate lobbyists and other “swamp creatures” like Scott Gottlieb and John Bolton to key posts. And President Biden has been wallowing in the corporate-controlled Washington swamp for 50 years. RFK Jr. has the experience to reclaim our government for the American people. For 40 years, he has sued countless government agencies. He knows all the tricks that corrupt officials use to advance the corporate agenda. As President, Kennedy will:
People Who Work Hard Should Be Able to Afford a Good Life. That is the guiding principle of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s economic policies. It’s hard to believe that once upon a time, a blue-collar worker with a high school education could support a family, take vacations, and even save for retirement. Technology has made our productivity many times higher — so why is life poorer, not richer, than in the 1960s? Why do people just accept that life will get slowly worse? Kennedy does not accept it. We can restore the American middle class by reversing the missteps of the last 50 years. A massive military machine has nearly bankrupted this country. Rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class. Official unemployment is low — but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector. Wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% since Biden took office. Under the Biden administration, the price of an average home has risen from $250,000 to around $400,000, and mortgage rates have more than doubled. Rents have followed the trend, putting more and more people on the edge of catastrophe. But we can turn it around. Being able to afford a decent life doesn’t mean working more hours. It means higher pay and lower bills. Here is what Kennedy will do to make that a reality:
People always ask, “How are we going to pay for all this?” The answer is simple. First is to end the military adventures and regime-change wars, like the one in Ukraine. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya already cost us over $8 trillion. That’s $90,000 per family of four. That’s enough to pay off all medical debt, all credit card debt, provide free childcare, feed every hungry child, repair our infrastructure, and make college tuition free — with money left over. That’s enough to make social security solvent for another 30 years. Second is to end the corruption in Washington, the corporate giveaways, the boondoggles, the bailouts of the too-big-to-fail that leave the little guy at the mercy of the market. Corporations right now are sitting on $8 trillion in cash. Their contribution to tax revenues was 33% in the 1950s — it is 10% today. It’s high time they paid their fair share. Other Presidents have tinkered on the edges, but Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will make the deep changes necessary to put the economy on a sound footing. The broad prosperity of the Eisenhower and JFK era can be ours again. It is just a shift of priorities away. Homeownership and the American Dream The dream of home ownership is slipping away for many Americans with high mortgage rates, rising prices, and stagnant income. To make matters worse, venture capital firms and hedge funds are buying up single-family homes by the millions. As home ownership costs rise beyond reach, rents follow them into the stratosphere. Consider these statistics:
What this means is that home ownership is now out of reach for all but the top income bracket. Younger Americans in particular barely dream of ever owning a home. They face a future at the mercy of faceless corporate landlords who will raise rent to the highest level the market will bear. None of this is inevitable, though. As President, RFK Jr. will enact a series of policies to put home ownership back within the reach of working families. Here’s how:
Together, these changes will restore home ownership to tens of millions of Americans, and lower costs for tens of millions more. We will get large corporations out of the single-family home business. End the Forever Wars In the long term, a nation’s strength does not come from its armies. America spends as much on weaponry as the next nine nations combined, yet the country has grown weaker, not stronger, over the last 30 years. Even as its military technology has reigned supreme, America has been hollowing out from the inside. We cannot be a strong or secure nation when our infrastructure, industry, society, and economy are infirm. A high priority of a Kennedy administration will be to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance. As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country. In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukrainian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries. We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, “Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Kennedy will revive a lost thread of American foreign policy thinking, the one championed by his uncle, John F. Kennedy who, over his 1000 days in office, had become a firm anti-imperialist. He wanted to exit Vietnam. He defied the Joint Chiefs of Staff and refused to bomb Cuba, thus saving us from nuclear Armageddon. He wanted to reverse the imperialistic policies of Truman and Eisenhower, rein in the CIA, and support freedom movements around the world. He wanted to revive Roosevelt’s impulse to dissolve the British empire rather than take it over. John F. Kennedy’s vision was tragically cut short by an assassin’s bullet. But now we have another chance. The country is ailing, yes, but underneath there is vitality still. America is a land rich in resources, creativity, and intelligence. We just need to get serious about healing our society, to become strong again from the inside. America was once an inspiration to the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy. Our priority will be nothing less than to restore our moral leadership. We will lead by example. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation. The Humanitarian Crisis at Our Southern Border Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. sees the situation at the border primarily as a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis that has spread far beyond the border, as a flood of migrants has overwhelmed the resources of cities as far away as New York. The suffering of the migrants at the hands of drug cartels, human traffickers, and exploitative employers is heartbreaking. As President, Kennedy is going to end the humanitarian crisis, starting with its most immediate cause — an uncontrolled border. As he seals the border to illegal immigration, his administration will enact deeper reforms to stem illegal migration in the long term, while expanding lawful, orderly immigration according to principles of justice and fairness. We must recognize that the foremost victims of a porous, chaotic border are the immigrants themselves. Compassion and decency demand that we do not allow the current situation to continue. Overview
A humanitarian, economic, and public security nightmare The Mexican cartels controlling immigration are as ruthless in this business as they are in the drug business. Gang violence all along the border has spiked as the cartels vie for turf through assassination and torture. The Mexican state of Sonora recorded 1765 murders in 2022, and many unsolved disappearances. The Mexican government’s official tally of disappearances now approaches 100,000. This civil disorder is encroaching into the US, as destitute migrants flood American cities, sleeping on sidewalks and overwhelming humanitarian resources. Here too they are easy prey for criminals. Fentanyl and methamphetamine are flooding into the country across the border along with the migrants. That is part of the cartels' integrated business model. Because migrants have no documentation, they have no bargaining power or recourse when employers take advantage of them. They work for $5 or $6 an hour. They exist as the permanent bottom layer of a shadow economy from which it is almost impossible to escape. A pool of cheap, exploitable labor lowers the floor for all labor, putting downward pressure on wages and harming the American working class. As a young man, RFK Jr. had the honor to work with Cesar Chavez. He understood that farm laborers’ conditions would never improve when endless new busloads of undocumented immigrants were available to replace any workers who tried to bargain for better working conditions. He was no xenophobe. Immigration is good for this country. It is unlawful, disorderly illegal immigration that harms migrants and undercuts American workers. In the long term, perhaps the most pernicious effect of the current border chaos is that a criminal infrastructure of well-financed, institutionalized cartels is taking hold, corrupting government officials and insinuating itself into society. Just as Prohibition was a tremendous boon to organized crime, birthing the American mafia of legend, so also does the border situation provide a financial foundation for criminal organizations that could persist of decades. Tough and Humanitarian Policy
There are 1.6 million immigrants living in the US while they await their asylum hearing. Fewer than 15% will be approved. We need to appoint hundreds more judges to deal with this backlog, and to ensure that newly arriving immigrants get a hearing before being admitted to the U.S. This is a common-sense solution that can transcend partisan rancor. Democrats will support swift attention to asylum claims so that we meet our humanitarian obligations. Republicans will support an end to the flow of millions of unheard asylum claimants into the U.S. on their own recognizance. Migrants will know that their case will be heard at the border and they will not be let through unless it is approved. Deciding to spend a lifetime of savings and risk injury, rape, and death to make this journey is the biggest decisions of most migrants' lives. They do not make that kind of a decision in a vacuum. We must give them forewarning that we are hiring hundreds more judges and they can no longer expect to be let into the country due to judicial delays. We will work with the Mexican government to stem the flow of transit migration through Mexico. We have to cultivate a more positive relationship with Mexico and work closely with its people and government who desperately want to be free of the plague of cartel violence. Together, these three policies will end the business model of the cartels. When we also expand legal immigration, migrants will rationally choose the legal path instead of putting their families’ lives at the mercy of criminals. The Best Environmental President in American History A Plan to Protect Our Environment from Corporate Corruption and Contamination RFK Jr., named Time Magazine’s “Hero for the Planet,” will be the greatest environmental president in American history. In 40 years as an environmental attorney, Kennedy fought and won lawsuits against hundreds of corporations and government agencies. He sued Mobil Oil to reverse its pollution of the Hudson River, making it safe to swim and fish again. He sued DuPont, Mitsubishi, and Ford, to force them to clean up chemical spills. He sued Monsanto on behalf of farm workers and families who developed cancer from toxic pesticides. The organization Kennedy founded, Waterkeeper Alliance, is now the largest clean water organization in the world, protecting 2.7 million miles of waterways in 47 countries. Throughout his career, Kennedy has stood among the leadership of the environmental movement crafting sensible, free-market solutions to environmental challenges. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s environmental plan will unite Americans around broadly shared values and commonsense priorities to protect our air, water, natural resources and sacred places. As an independent, Kennedy will break through the divisive political arguments that keep us distracted while Republicans and Democrats allow corporate interests to strip-mine our natural heritage. In contrast with Kennedy’s lifelong efforts to fight corporate corruption and contamination of our environment, Presidents Trump and Biden both appointed corporate lobbyists to fill federal regulatory agencies. Trump rolled back dozens of environmental rules for big polluters, and Biden has given corporations billions of dollars of taxpayer money for false environmental solutions. In this election, Kennedy is inviting the American people to look beyond the failed and divisive environmental policies of the past, and meet on common ground. His plan will:
End the Chronic Disease Epidemic The current generation is the sickest in American history. When John F. Kennedy was president, 6% of American kids had a chronic health condition. Today it is 60%. Rates of autoimmune disease, diabetes, ADD and ADHD, autism, obesity, asthma, food allergies, and other chronic health conditions have been skyrocketing. Yet, no political candidate has made this an issue. They all take it for granted as normal. With one exception: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Politicians in both parties, including Presidents Trump and Biden, have allowed America’s health to deteriorate. They debate about who will bear healthcare costs, which is like rearranging chairs on the Titanic. But no one dares to investigate the root causes of the chronic disease epidemic. There’s no money in it. As Americans get sicker, corporate political donors — Big Pharma and Wall Street firms that control much of the medical industry — get richer. America’s catastrophic health is bankrupting our country. In JFK’s era the U.S. spent 4% of GDP on healthcare. Today it is 17%. That is $4.3 trillion, dwarfing the total federal defense and security budget of $1.3 trillion. Approximately 90% of U.S. healthcare costs are for people with chronic and mental health conditions. During RFK Jr.’s first week in office, he will convene a meeting at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to declare a major shift in priorities: The federal government will refocus its $50 billion medical research budget toward chronic disease prevention. Kennedy will start funding studies into the causes of chronic disease, including toxic chemicals (PFAS, glyphosate, neonics, etc.), air and water pollution, microplastics, electromagnetic pollution, ultra-processed foods, and pharmaceutical products. As President, Kennedy will also:
Regenerating America’s Soil, Farms, and Food Quite literally, soil is the foundation of our nation, and America’s soils have been poisoned, eroded, and depleted for a century. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is going to reverse that. The chemical-industrial agriculture that has destroyed family farms has also brought us chronic disease, ecological damage, polluted water, and even higher food prices. Grocery costs have risen 17% in two years — faster than inflation. Six in ten American adults suffer from chronic disease. Toxic chemicals like glyphosate and chlormequat contaminate nearly our entire food supply. Rural aquifers are drying up, soil is eroding, and droughts and floods are the new normal. Regenerative agriculture can reverse all of this. Using organic methods instead of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, regenerative farmers bring the biome of the soil back to life, increase biodiversity, improve the water cycle, and produce healthy food free of toxins. When the soil is restored it is able to absorb more excess carbon than anything else on earth, even more than trees. We won't need carbon credit scores and authoritarian restrictions if we simply heal the earth through better farming practices. Some of America’s most innovative farmers, such as Rick Clark, Gabe Brown, and Will Smith are showing how family farms can thrive, how soil and water can heal, and how farmers can maintain high yields without toxic chemicals. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will seek to systemize their innovations. He will shift regulatory priorities to favor small farmers and regenerative practices. He will get corporate influence out of the USDA, FDA, and EPA. He will lobby Congress to change the system of agricultural subsidies so that they no longer favor the biggest corporate producers. Under RFK Jr., America will see a revitalized farm sector, lower food prices, better health, and a healthier environment. No other politician is making this an issue. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will rebuild America, literally from the ground up. Politics As Usual Has Failed the Black Community For too long the levers of power in Washington have changed hands between Republicans and Democrats without meaningful change coming to the black community. Things will be different with Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who has spent forty years fiercely protecting minority communities. In Kennedy’s first case as an environmental attorney, he represented the NAACP in its fight to stop a garbage station in Ossining, NY. He has always been there for vulnerable communities, from the Bronx to indigenous people in North and South America. OPERATION PHOENIX Black businesses are the lifeblood of their community, and Kennedy knows it. He served on the board of Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy for 35 years. Ending redlining and releasing investment capital turned Restoration Plaza into a thriving business community. Kennedy will replicate this success across the country. Rather than the hundred billion dollar bank bailouts, Kennedy will invest in urban and struggling communities. They will rise and thrive through Operation Phoenix. TANGIBLES:
JUSTICE
Justice for Black Farmers Prison Reform Environmental Justice AN AMERICAN DREAM FOR ALL Americorps and a New GI Bill for Community Service Student Debt Relief Home Ownership Homelessness Addressing the Black Maternal Healthcare Crisis Implicit bias and discrimination in healthcare is a serious issue affecting the Black community. The history of this extends centuries back into the American experiment. It has resulted in Black women receiving lower quality care. Studies indicate that Black women are less likely to be heard by healthcare providers. Higher rates of poverty and limited access to quality healthcare contribute to poorer health outcomes. Black women are more likely to live in areas with fewer healthcare facilities and providers. Additionally, Black women experience higher rates of conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, which can complicate pregnancy and childbirth. Limited access to prenatal care, often due to lack of insurance or transportation, can lead to undiagnosed and untreated complications. Chronic stress from facing racial discrimination and economic instability can negatively impact pregnancy outcomes. Many Black women live in areas with limited or no maternity care services, which can delay or prevent access to necessary care. Solutions to Reduce the Crisis
Righting Old Wrongs Is Long Overdue for Native Americans “These kinds of conditions can not be permitted to exist in the United States.” Robert F Kennedy after seeing the impoverished living conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Robert F Kennedy Jr inherited from his father a deep commitment to improving the lives of Native Americans. Like his father, he sees the poverty and suffering in Indian Country as our country’s greatest shame and he believes that the federal government’s unfair dealings and broken treaties with the tribal nations are our nation’s original sin. After accompanying his father on campaign trips to reservations around the country, RFK Jr was inspired to focus a significant amount of his own career on representing the interests of indigenous Americans in the United States, Canada and Latin America. He has advocated for these first Americans in courtrooms and in treaty negotiations; he has fought for them against mining, timber, hydroelectric, and oil-industry forces endeavoring to steal their resources and destroy their lands and tribal culture. RFK Jr has been on the front lines of recent battles in Indian country: he joined the water protectors at Standing Rock and he and his son Conor were arrested protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. Under a Kennedy administration, historic wrongs done to Native Americans will be addressed and made right. The spirit as well as the letter of treaties must be honored as the highest law of the land: documents made between sovereign nations. Cultural renewal will be supported and religious practices and sacred sites will be defended. Tribal sovereignty and the right of self determination will be respected. The need for restoration of illegally taken lands and resources, compensation for broken treaties, protection and enhancement of natural resources in Indian Country, will be elevated to matters of national interest and examination. Tribes will have a friend and ally in the White House. While we know some of the problems in Indian Country, we will work in partnership with Native American leaders to learn more and to find the solutions. It is the duty of the federal government to do all that it can to create a better life for all Americans—especially those who have been reprehensibly neglected. We will seek to restore trust between Native Americans and the federal government and we will work hard to deserve it. We believe it is not enough to apologize for—or even attempt to rectify—past injustices; we need to prevent current and future injustices from occurring. Restore Our Rights Our administration will make it a top priority to protect and restore the fundamental civil liberties, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, that hold the essence of what America can be. These liberties have endured constant assault for more than 20 years, starting with the Bush/Cheney War on Terror, and accelerating in the era of Covid lockdowns. Freedom of speech is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. Once a government has the power to silence its opponents, no other right is safe. We will therefore dismantle the censorship-industrial complex, in which Big Tech censors, deplatforms, shadowbans, and algorithmically suppresses any person or opinion the government asks them to. We will respect the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, by ending mass surveillance of American citizens and the abuse of civil asset forfeiture. We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million businesses were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen. A Kennedy administration will respect American citizens and stop treating them like suspects and schoolchildren. We will stop manipulating the public with propaganda and targeted leaks. We will never weaponize the law against political opponents, nor hold our own officials above the law. We will return the intelligence agencies to their proper role as protectors not violators of liberty. We will also take special care to ensure the civil liberties of minorities and the poor. We will end the failed War on Drugs and grant amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders. We will shut the school-to-prison pipeline, and transition prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again. Instead of defunding the police, we will transform the police. We will incentivize them to prevent violence, not make unnecessary arrests. We will train them in de-escalation and mediation skills and partner them with neighborhood organizations. No longer will their relationship to the public be adversarial. They will focus their attention on serious crimes, not harassing ordinary people. Veterans Must Be a Top Priority Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, American servicemen and women have been called upon to support a state of near-perpetual war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Unlike any period of conflict in American history, these wars have been fought by an all-volunteer force, of which 77% deployed twice or more. Mr. Kennedy embraces this sacrifice made by veterans to the country, your sense of honor, and your desire to serve. Mr. Kennedy understands veterans’ acute awareness of the true nature, enormous cost and sacrifice, and folly of America’s engagement in these conflicts. Veterans deserve recognition for their remarkable service. More importantly, they deserve a special voice in our democracy’s councils of war and peace and in re-uniting our country around shared purposes. The stark absence, except in rare circumstances, of input from veterans in the more extensive debate about the US role in the world is improper, and when he is President, Mr. Kennedy will change this on day one. Mr. Kennedy understands that veterans are not victims. Instead, your steadfast dedication to values such as accountability, duty, honor, and candor has been misused by politicians and the military-industrial complex, who have deliberately kept the true opinions of those who have served in these wars out of the conversation. For example, veterans have first hand knowledge of the waste and fraud endemic to the government contracting system, and ideas of how to fix it. Mr. Kennedy knows that only by giving veterans a “seat at the table” can Washington avoid making the same mistakes of the Global War on Terrorism again. A Seat At the Table No one knows more about the sprawling global military presence than the veterans who have implemented the policies that have built it. America has a role, but that should put the security of America and her citizens first, and no one knows better what that should look like than her veterans. When elected President, Mr. Kennedy will establish a Veterans Council within the President’s Executive Office. The purpose of this council will be to respond quickly to veteran’s issues while bypassing the bureaucracy of the VA and, in effect, bring solutions to the VA for that department to execute. Further, Mr. Kennedy will give the head of the PVC a seat at National Security Council meetings to bring your unique perspective on war and leverage your experience. Mr. Kennedy Will Protect Your Benefits and Optimize the VA Mr. Kennedy is committed to protecting the benefits you have earned through the sacrifice of your youth on behalf of this great nation. As President, Mr. Kennedy will not allow your benefits to be reduced. Instead, he will solicit your input on making those benefits more impactful to enable you to reach the highest echelons of success and prosperity. Mr. Kennedy Wants Veterans to be Community Leaders and an Economic Power Mr. Kennedy understands that service in the US military is largely generational, or in other words, a “family business.” Further, many veterans return home after one enlistment, and you have had a lifetime of experience by the age of 22. Understanding this and that leadership, fairness, discipline, and accountability are core to your persona and values as a veteran, Mr. Kennedy wants to empower you to lead your community. For too long, America has been deliberately divided against itself by those seeking self-enrichment, which has cost this nation its role and reputation as a beacon of hope and a moral leader worldwide. With your experience, leadership, and participation, and Mr. Kennedy in the White House, we will return not only to this position globally but also to heal the ever-growing divide at home. Expand Americorps Many young people today face a bleak choice upon graduation from high school. Some go to college, but college is not for everyone. Most of the rest must choose between low paying jobs in the service or gig economy, military enlistment, or a “career” in the illegal drug trade. That is why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is going to transform the existing Americorps program to offer a new option to young people who want to gain skills, step into adult responsibilities, and most of all, act on their altruism and desire to serve something larger than themselves. Americorps, officially known as the National Civilian Community Corps, was founded in 1994 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, which President John F. Kennedy established the in 1961. Today, the kind of service the Peace Corps has done in the world is needed urgently in our own country. The existing Americorps is just a one-year program open only to college grads. The transformed Americorps will be open to all people 18 and older who want to make a four year commitment to service, in areas such as:
Each of these areas represents a huge unmet need for our country. For example, some estimate that 500,00-600,000 skilled workers are needed for infrastructure repair alone. There is plenty of meaningful work to be done to revitalize our country! The expanded Americorps will develop relationships with other organizations such as trade unions and NGOs to ensure the labor and creativity of Americorps volunteers supports existing organizations. Benefits to participants will be on a par with benefits to military veterans:
The expanded Americorps will offer an exciting and fulfilling path into adulthood for hundreds of thousands of young people. The requirements placed upon them will be challenging, rivaling the expectations of soldiers in the military, but they will leave the program capable, confident, and ready to continue contributing to society. The expanded Americorps will also provide a transition zone for retiring military personnel who want to continue serving their country while learning economically useful civilian skills. The focus areas of the expanded Americorps coincide with high-demand professions, particularly in construction and repair. Americorps will give veterans a place to apply their leadership skills as supervisors and mentors while also developing skills suitable for civilian life. Their transition will symbolize that of our entire nation, as we become the world-inspiring example of peace that John F. Kennedy aspired to when he founded the original Peace Corps in 1961. More Choices, More Life Abortion is one of the most divisive issues in American politics. We’ve been offered two positions — pro-life and pro-choice — with hardly any room between or outside them. This wedge issue keeps Americans fighting with each other and destroys our most promising alliances. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s policy won’t end the debate, but it offers a way forward that most Americans can support. It is called “More Choices, More Life.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a medical freedom advocate and supports a woman’s right to choose until a fetus is viable. At the same time, Kennedy’s policy will dramatically reduce abortion in our country, and it will do so by offering more choices for women and families, not less. A lot of women, when they get pregnant, feel they can’t afford to have a baby. There isn’t a lot of support to raise a child in this society. You can’t call yourself pro-life if you are concerned only with life before birth. What about after birth? We have to make our society as welcoming as possible to children and to motherhood. The centerpiece of More Choices, More Life is a massive subsidized daycare initiative. We will safeguard women’s reproductive rights while redirecting the funds being spent on the war in Ukraine to subsidize community- and home-based daycares, along with stay-at-home parents. Instead of padding the pockets of our weapons manufacturers, we will pay 100% of care for the three million children under five who live beneath our poverty line. And we will cap the cost at 10% of family income for everyone else. These payments will not be available to corporate daycare chains or the hedge funds that own them. They will fund only single-location small businesses — as well as parents who decide to stay home with their children. Universal childcare has the potential to add $1 trillion to our GDP, according to Moodys. And since economics is a major driver of abortion, this policy will do more to lower abortion rates than any coercive measure ever could. On top of this policy, we will also strengthen our adoption infrastructure to make it the best in the world. We will increase the child tax credit, and we will fund sanctuaries for women in need to have babies, places like Auntie Angie’s House, where they get support not just in pregnancy and birth but also in those precious months afterwards. That way, their only “choice” isn’t abortion. They have another choice, a viable choice to give birth. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will never compromise Americans’ freedoms to solve our nation’s problems. We can have more choices and more life.” Fortunately, there is a lot we can do to reduce abortions — by choice, not by force. As President, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make it easier for women to choose life. He will give them more choices than they have today, we will see a lot fewer abortions, and a lot more flourishing families. Every American Can Be an Energy Entrepreneur “America has an opportunity to set an example for the world by creating a true free market for energy, replacing the current marketplace that is riddled with rules written by polluters and designed to reward the use of the dirtiest fuels.” - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For his entire career, RFK Jr. has advocated for a free-market approach to energy and environmental issues. In a true free-market system, private corporations are supposed to pay for their own costs. But today, many big corporations internalize their profits as they externalize the costs of their environmental damage, meaning that the American public ends up paying instead of the polluters. Globally, the fossil fuel industry receives about $7 trillion per year in subsidies. A portion of that enormous sum comes from direct subsidies like tax breaks. But most comes from indirect subsidies, which companies receive when they externalize the cost of the damage they cause to air, water, and common resources, as well as human health. In places like western Pennsylvania, fracking companies poisoned the water supplies, forcing local residents to buy bottled water instead of drinking from their own wells. Those areas now incur higher rates of cancers and other adverse health conditions. But the local people, not the corporations, were left with the bills. The fossil fuel industry imposes many other costs on the public. Every freshwater fish in North America has been poisoned by mercury, primarily from coal-fired power plants. Adirondack lakes have been sterilized by acid rain, and hundreds of Appalachian mountains have been obliterated by mountain-top-removal mining. Americans suffer high rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses due to air and water pollution. Our country is continually caught up in wars fought over control of the oil supply. The big industries that should be held responsible for these kinds of external costs do not pay for them. American citizens do. As President, Kennedy will support public policies that require fossil fuel companies to internalize their costs. Then the free market will be able to do its job of punishing waste — pollution is waste — and incentivizing efficiency. At the same time, Kennedy will support the development of emerging energy industries that have fewer external costs, including wind and solar. He believes the federal government has an important role to play in encouraging these nascent industries by building infrastructure to unleash what President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “America’s industrial genius.” Kennedy will do so by upgrading and enhancing our nation’s power grid. The current grid is divided into 50 different public utilities that operate under arcane rules written by the fossil fuel industry to favor their dirty, poisonous “fuels from hell” and prevent competition from cheap, clean, green, and patriotic “fuels from heaven.” The United States has abundant wind and solar energy, but we need a better grid to connect the wind power centers of the Midwest and the solar power centers of the desert Southwest to places where that energy is needed. Just as President Eisenhower built the national highway system to drive down the cost of transportation, Kennedy will build a nationwide grid to drive down the cost of electricity. Kennedy’s policies will allow Americans to sell energy back to the grid from rooftop solar panels and from wind and geothermal sources located on their land. Every American can be an energy entrepreneur and every home be a power plant, rather than relying on Saudi Arabian oil and Appalachian coal. RFK Jr.’s innovative, free-market approach to energy stands in stark contrast to the policies of Presidents Trump and Biden. President Trump’s “Drill Baby, Drill” plan left no room for sensible environmental protections, and only added to the massive subsidies that oil, gas, and coal companies receive. President Biden, too, has lavished huge subsidies and tax credits on energy companies, enriching their billionaire owners, and he has even subsidized Big Oil companies for false environmental solutions, while simultaneously opening millions of acres of public lands and waters to oil and gas drilling. President Biden is also subsidizing and “fast tracking” thousands of offshore wind turbines along the East Coast, an expensive and inefficient boondoggle that is causing horrendous damage to the ocean environment, fisheries, and marine life, including whales and dolphins. Kennedy will focus instead on land-based wind in states like Montana, North Dakota, and Texas where wind energy is cheap, abundant, less environmentally costly, and welcomed by communities that benefit from local energy development. He will minimize the environmental impacts of wind, solar, and electric vehicles by incentivizing development of the next generation of battery and storage technologies, which will rely less on environmentally destructive mining for rare earth metals. Replacing lithium batteries with batteries that use sodium, a more abundant and easily obtained mineral, is one such promising technology. Kennedy’s free-market plan will take America’s energy and environmental policy in a new direction. He will unleash a wave of energy innovation and entrepreneurship that will revive our economy and improve our environment, giving Americans access to the cleanest, most efficient, and most environmentally friendly forms of energy possible. Tax Fairness Share “The tax burden on America’s middle class and working poor must be reduced.” - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As President, Robert F. Kennedy Jr will propose a revenue-neutral plan that helps both the lower and middle classes, subsidized not by raising rates on high income households, but rather by closing loopholes and eliminating deductions that only benefit the wealthy. Kennedy’s plan to achieve tax fairness will:
Recovering America with Healing Farms “We’re going to build healing centers in communities across the nation, places that help empower a generation beset by depression, PTSD, loneliness, addiction, and mental illness, where they can reconnect with nature and recover.” —Robert F. Kennedy Jr. From big cities to small towns, Americans are dying from drug overdoses in record numbers. Nearly 220,000 Americans died of overdoses in the previous two years alone. The drug fentanyl, in particular, is ravaging our communities, especially young people. Tragically, 29.5 million Americans, ages 12 and up, have an alcohol use disorder. More than 178,000 people die per year in the United States due to excessive alcohol use. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was nine years old when he lost his uncle and 14 when his father was killed. In seeking relief from these traumas, he fell into addiction. Kennedy quit all alcohol and drugs at 28 and has been sober for over 40 years. The healing Kennedy experienced in his own life, motivates him to help others find that freedom and renewal. In the new documentary, "Recovering America", RFK Jr. travels the U.S. in search of the most promising solutions to end the drug crisis and help Americans find lasting recovery. As President, Kennedy will build an innovative nationwide network of hundreds of healing centers, where people can reconnect with nature, learn the discipline of hard work, and rebuild their lives. On Healing Farms, Americans will eat organic foods, unplug from computers and phones, be mentored by peers in recovery, and be of service. It’s not simply a traditional rehab center. On Healing Farms, struggling Americans will master new skills such as regenerative farming and ranching, carpentry, furniture making, culinary arts, entrepreneurship and other professions including that of electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, and construction workers. Taxing Marijuana Healing Farms will be funded by a federal tax on marijuana with no net cost. Enrollment is free the moment a participant arrives with no time limit on recovery. The waitlists, referrals and prohibitive costs of private treatment centers are avoided and so are the risks that addicts so often succumb to – losing their motivation to heal and retreating to the cycle of use and despair. Instead, Healing Farms will foster community and provide their guests with a fresh start on life. Today, the largest industry in America's depressed rural areas is our prison industrial complex. Since the 1980s the U.S. has built prisons in these communities to house America’s young people who have been devastated by the drug crisis. Isn’t it time to turn our national attention to healing instead? Healing Farms will foster community and bring a healthy new industry to rural areas and forgotten corners of America. Federal Parity Law The 2008 Federal Parity Law requires insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as addiction or depression, no more restrictively than illnesses of the body, such as cancer or diabetes. As the nationwide mental health and addiction crisis deepens, mental health parity is more important than ever. Unfortunately, many insurers are still not following the law. Common violations of the Federal Parity Law include separate deductibles or higher copays for behavioral health services and limits on how many days a patient can stay in a treatment facility or how many times they can see a health provider. These violations are unacceptable and can result in families sacrificing college savings, retirement or even going bankrupt to pay for treatment their insurance won’t but should cover by law. As President, Kennedy will protect the health and well-being of the American people and aggressively enforce parity law. Defend Labor, Uplift Workers Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a strong supporter of labor rights, going back to his youthful involvement with Cesar Chavez. He believes that capitalism can function only in the presence of a strong labor movement. If workers cannot bargain collectively, they will always be at a disadvantage negotiating with large corporations, who will relentlessly drive down wages and erode working conditions. The Administration of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make defense of the rights of workers a cardinal principle of governance. He believes that high wages and benefits are essential to the economic security of families and the nation. Unions allow workers to claim their fair share of the business profits they contribute to. Accordingly, Mr. Kennedy will defend these worker’s rights:
Mr. Kennedy will vigorously defend these and other workers' rights and use the power of the presidency to uplift the standing of workers throughout the nation. He will:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is committed to being the strongest pro-labor President since the 1960s, as part of his broader commitment to restore a strong middle class in America. Care For Every Child The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) considers childcare affordable at 7% of household income, but the national average expenditure is now a whopping 24%. A median income Black family with two young children spends 56% of their total income on childcare. In 28 states, childcare costs more than college tuition, and in all 50 states two kids in childcare costs more than housing. 71% of parents say the cost of childcare is an unmanageable financial burden. To solve this urgent problem, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Care for Every Child plan will cap total childcare expenditures at 15% of family income above the poverty line. If your income is below the poverty line, child care is free. 100% subsidized. Kennedy’s plan will provide universally affordable community-based childcare or identical payment to in-home caregivers for children aged three months to five years old. Only home-based childcare or single-location small business daycares will be eligible for payments, not institutional chain daycares that are so often owned by Wall Street hedge funds. Families will have the option to take the same payment to compensate an at-home caregiver, whether a parent, family member, or babysitter. One monthly payment will be issued per child. The total annual cost of the plan will be $175 billion, which is approximately what the U.S. has already spent on the war in Ukraine. This program will not be funded by any new government spending, but instead by redirecting excess military funding, which does little to grow GDP, increase tax revenue, boost employment, or improve the lives of American families. Unlike military expenditures, the Care for Every Child plan will boost tax revenue by $21 billion, increase U.S. employer revenue by $23 billion, raise U.S. parents’ wages by $78 billion, create 423,000 new childcare jobs, and add $1 trillion to our GDP over 6 years when combined with paid family leave. Because these many direct and indirect benefits are spread across all Congressional Districts, this program allows legislators to redirect excess defense spending without penalizing their home districts or endangering their own re-election resources. In fact, universally affordable daycare has overwhelming support from voters on all sides of the aisle and creates more than 3x the number of jobs (and immeasurably more joy, purpose and prosperity) than defense spending. Achieving this bipartisan objective without increasing government spending will drive re-election victories for red and blue legislators across the country. In this way, RFK Jr’s Care for Every Child program is a keystone example of how an Independent Kennedy Administration will work with Congress to redirect excessive and wasteful spending in service of economic growth and the true needs of the American people. It’s important to note that the above discussion addresses only the direct economic benefits of universally available daycare. The indirect follow-on effects are even more beneficial to our country. Inability to afford childcare is the number one reason that American women leave the workforce, cut their hours, refuse a promotion, or turn down a better job. Fathers, grandparents, and many other caregivers face these same difficult decisions between affording childcare and pursuing the dreams they have for themselves and their families. Kennedy’s Care for Every Child doesn’t just benefit caregivers. Its greatest beneficiaries are the children themselves. Longitudinal studies show that kids who have benefitted from early childhood education are more likely to be employed full time as adults, more likely to be in a happy long-term relationship, less likely to rely on public assistance, less likely to become parents under the age of 21, and less likely to ever be incarcerated. They also have lower systolic blood pressure well into adulthood, fewer adverse health events, and represent a lower overall cost to America’s health care, justice, and public assistance programs. Kennedy’s Care for Every Child plan will grow our economy, reduce public expenditures, free every parent to pursue their dreams, and give every American child the lifetime academic, social, nutritional, and emotional benefits of quality childhood care. Without any new government spending, this signature Kennedy initiative will also alleviate one of the biggest sources of financial stress for American families today. Bitcoin and Blockchain are Essential to Human Freedom Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a stalwart defender of Constitutional freedoms. But there is one freedom so fundamental that the founders didn’t even think to put it in the Bill of Rights – the freedom to transact. The state of technology in the 18th century made limiting that right virtually impossible. But with today's modern technology, government control over an individual's personal financial transactions is a very real danger. That is why cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are so important. They provide a bulwark against the ability of state authorities to freeze bank accounts and economically disable individuals whom they find objectionable, as happened in Canada during the pandemic. Furthermore, the underlying technology that powers bitcoin – decentralized public ledgers known as blockchains – are among the most dynamic areas of innovation and entrepreneurialism in the world today. Kennedy believes it is essential for America to provide a regulatory environment friendly to blockchain innovation, so that our country remains a world leader in this critical technology of the 21st century. As President, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will prioritize:
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Economy It’s hard to believe that once upon a time, a blue-collar worker with a high school education could support a family, take vacations, and even save for retirement. Technology has made our productivity many times higher — so why is life poorer, not richer, than in the 1960s? Why do people just accept that life will get slowly worse? Kennedy does not accept it. We can restore the American middle class by reversing the missteps of the last 50 years. A massive military machine has nearly bankrupted this country. Rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class. Official unemployment is low — but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector. Wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% since Biden took office. Under the Biden administration, the price of an average home has risen from $250,000 to around $400,000, and mortgage rates have more than doubled. Rents have followed the trend, putting more and more people on the edge of catastrophe. But we can turn it around. Being able to afford a decent life doesn’t mean working more hours. It means higher pay and lower bills. Here is what Kennedy will do to make that a reality:
People always ask, “How are we going to pay for all this?” The answer is simple. First is to end the military adventures and regime-change wars, like the one in Ukraine. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya already cost us over $8 trillion. That’s $90,000 per family of four. That’s enough to pay off all medical debt, all credit card debt, provide free childcare, feed every hungry child, repair our infrastructure, and make college tuition free — with money left over. That’s enough to make social security solvent for another 30 years. Second is to end the corruption in Washington, the corporate giveaways, the boondoggles, the bailouts of the too-big-to-fail that leave the little guy at the mercy of the market. Corporations right now are sitting on $8 trillion in cash. Their contribution to tax revenues was 33% in the 1950s — it is 10% today. It’s high time they paid their fair share. Other Presidents have tinkered on the edges, but Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will make the deep changes necessary to put the economy on a sound footing. The broad prosperity of the Eisenhower and JFK era can be ours again. It is just a shift of priorities away. Housing Consider these statistics:
What this means is that home ownership is now out of reach for all but the top income bracket. Younger Americans in particular barely dream of ever owning a home. They face a future at the mercy of faceless corporate landlords who will raise rent to the highest level the market will bear. None of this is inevitable, though. As President, RFK Jr. will enact a series of policies to put home ownership back within the reach of working families. Here’s how:
Together, these changes will restore home ownership to tens of millions of Americans, and lower costs for tens of millions more. We will get large corporations out of the single-family home business. Environment RFK Jr.’s success came from uniting liberal environmentalists with conservative rod-and-gun folks who shared a desire for a clean, healthy environment. As President, he will bring the same commitment and coalition-building to address the most pressing environmental problems in America and beyond. Recent years have seen one environmental disaster after another: floods and droughts, fires, and toxic spills. Our soils are depleted, the weather is wacky, trees are dying, and the water in many places is toxic. Chronic disease is at an all-time high. We’re going to address these problems at their root causes.
In all of his policies, RFK Jr. will put people and places first. In recent years, climate change has made the environment a divisive issue, but there are many policies that make sense to skeptics and activists alike. We will emphasize those, and rebuild a broad environmental coalition to clean up this country. Honest Government From his long experience and familiarity with systems of power, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. understands that most people in corporations and government are perfectly decent human beings. They play the game, but a lot of them are fed up with its phoniness, and cynical about the paralysis of the system. They feel trapped in it. Clean government isn’t just about removing corrupt individuals. It is about changing a system in which perfectly decent people become agents of corruption without even knowing it. The blizzard of misinformation that is now inundating our democracy will end only when the government and the media start telling the truth to Americans. - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We are going to remake public institutions to serve the public. We will roll back the secrecy and make government transparent. We will protect whistleblowers and prosecute officials who abuse the public trust. We will rein in the lobbyists and slam shut the revolving door that shunts people from government agencies to lucrative positions in the companies they were supposed to regulate, and back again. We will get money out of politics. We will open our institutions to real citizen involvement. We will restore integrity to government. Reconciliation Today, powerful undemocratic forces have a death grip on our nation. There is only one way to break that grip and restore power to the people. That is a broad popular movement that unites left and right, Black and White, urban and rural, young and old, and working people of all ethnicities. This populist uprising is not defined by its enemies. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recognizes that even the elites have become prisoners of the system they have created. Many of them no longer believe in it, despite the wealth and power it gives them. They too are welcome to defect to the movement of people power. Kennedy has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions. No one is deplorable. Furthermore, most of the disagreements obscure deeper shared values. Everyone wants their children to be safe. No one wants more abortions, nor do they want to force women to undergo unwanted pregnancies. Everyone wants safe streets, yet few wish for millions of people to languish in prison. Kennedy will draw on the broad moral agreements beneath our divisions. He will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other. He will lead the way toward national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow, and to forgive. These commitments to respect and unity start right now, in the campaign. In Kennedy's own words, “Every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician to do is to appeal to our greed, to our anger, to our fear, to our xenophobia, our bigotry, all of the alchemies of tribalism. I will appeal instead to our generosity as a people, our goodness, our kindness, and our courage.” Peace A high priority of a Kennedy administration will be to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance. As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country. “America cannot be an empire abroad and continue to be a democracy at home.” -- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries. We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, “Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Kennedy will revive a lost thread of American foreign policy thinking, the one championed by his uncle, John F. Kennedy who, over his 1000 days in office, had become a firm anti-imperialist. He wanted to exit Vietnam. He defied the Joint Chiefs of Staff and refused to bomb Cuba, thus saving us from nuclear Armageddon. He wanted to reverse the imperialistic policies of Truman and Eisenhower, rein in the CIA, and support freedom movements around the world. He wanted to revive Roosevelt’s impulse to dissolve the British empire rather than take it over. John F. Kennedy’s vision was tragically cut short by an assassin’s bullet. But now we have another chance. The country is ailing, yes, but underneath there is vitality still. America is a land rich in resources, creativity, and intelligence. We just need to get serious about healing our society, to become strong again from the inside. America was once an inspiration to the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy. Our priority will be nothing less than to restore our moral leadership. We will lead by example. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation. Border As President, Kennedy is going to end the humanitarian crisis, starting with its most immediate cause — an uncontrolled border. As he seals the border to illegal immigration, his administration will enact deeper reforms to stem illegal migration in the long term, while expanding lawful, orderly immigration according to principles of justice and fairness. We must recognize that the foremost victims of a porous, chaotic border are the immigrants themselves. Compassion and decency demand that we do not allow the current situation to continue. Overview
A humanitarian, economic, and public security nightmare The criminal cartels that now control immigration across the Mexican border exact a high price. Migrants are routinely robbed, raped, kidnapped, and sex trafficked. These horrors are happening systemically and at scale. The whereabouts of some 85,000 children who have been separated from their parents are unknown. In May, a “stash house” with 135 kidnapped migrants was liberated just across the border in San Luis. For everyone that is discovered, many more operate undetected. Our unregulated border is not compassionate. It is an open opportunity for the worst kinds of organized crime. The Mexican cartels controlling immigration are as ruthless in this business as they are in the drug business. Gang violence all along the border has spiked as the cartels vie for turf through assassination and torture. The Mexican state of Sonora recorded 1765 murders in 2022, and many unsolved disappearances. The Mexican government’s official tally of disappearances now approaches 100,000. This civil disorder is encroaching into the US, as destitute migrants flood American cities, sleeping on sidewalks and overwhelming humanitarian resources. Here too they are easy prey for criminals. Fentanyl and methamphetamine are flooding into the country across the border along with the migrants. That is part of the cartels' integrated business model. Because migrants have no documentation, they have no bargaining power or recourse when employers take advantage of them. They work for $5 or $6 an hour. They exist as the permanent bottom layer of a shadow economy from which it is almost impossible to escape. A pool of cheap, exploitable labor lowers the floor for all labor, putting downward pressure on wages and harming the American working class. As a young man, RFK Jr. had the honor to work with Cesar Chavez. He understood that farm laborers’ conditions would never improve when endless new busloads of undocumented immigrants were available to replace any workers who tried to bargain for better working conditions. He was no xenophobe. Immigration is good for this country. It is unlawful, disorderly illegal immigration that harms migrants and undercuts American workers. In the long term, perhaps the most pernicious effect of the current border chaos is that a criminal infrastructure of well-financed, institutionalized cartels is taking hold, corrupting government officials and insinuating itself into society. Just as Prohibition was a tremendous boon to organized crime, birthing the American mafia of legend, so also does the border situation provide a financial foundation for criminal organizations that could persist of decades. Tough and Humanitarian Policy The first step toward fixing this situation is to reassert control over our border. Today there is no control, no effective policy and, as a result, there is a humanitarian, security, and economic disaster. There are two ways people enter this country illegally. One way is by sneaking in. The other is by simply walking across at an entry point, claiming asylum, and disappearing. We have to address both. If we only shut down the asylum route, they will sneak across instead. If we only seal the border, they will overwhelm asylum processing resources. We must end both simultaneously. To accomplish this, the Kennedy administration will pursue the following policies.
There are 1.6 million immigrants living in the US while they await their asylum hearing. Fewer than 15% will be approved. We need to appoint hundreds more judges to deal with this backlog, and to ensure that newly arriving immigrants get a hearing before being admitted to the U.S. This is a common-sense solution that can transcend partisan rancor. Democrats will support swift attention to asylum claims so that we meet our humanitarian obligations. Republicans will support an end to the flow of millions of unheard asylum claimants into the U.S. on their own recognizance. Migrants will know that their case will be heard at the border and they will not be let through unless it is approved. Deciding to spend a lifetime of savings and risk injury, rape, and death to make this journey is the biggest decisions of most migrants' lives. They do not make that kind of a decision in a vacuum. We must give them forewarning that we are hiring hundreds more judges and they can no longer expect to be let into the country due to judicial delays. We will work with the Mexican government to stem the flow of transit migration through Mexico. We have to cultivate a more positive relationship with Mexico and work closely with its people and government who desperately want to be free of the plague of cartel violence. Together, these three policies will end the business model of the cartels. When we also expand legal immigration, migrants will rationally choose the legal path instead of putting their families’ lives at the mercy of criminals. Long-term solutions Beyond the immediate border crisis is a long-term immigration crisis, the result of lack of leadership, poor planning, little to no diplomacy, economic exploitation, and an inability to reimagine a regionally cooperative approach. We can control the border, but immigration pressure will not abate until we change the conditions that make so many people desperate to flee their homelands. Sadly, the United States has contributed to those conditions. As President, RFK Jr. will change that by implementing a new kind of Good Neighbor policy, starting in this hemisphere. He will:
Politicians in the past have appealed to xenophobia and bigotry in calling for a tough border policy. RFK Jr.’s call for a tough border comes from a different place. It comes from compassion and humanitarian conscience. He calls upon all Americans, of every part and political persuasion to face facts. President Biden’s loose border policy has been a disaster. It serves no one: not the migrants, not the nations south of the border, and not our own country. We are in the midst of a humanitarian nightmare, an entirely unnecessary one of our own making. Conscience demands that we stem the tide of illegal immigration so that we can return to the orderly, lawful immigration that has brought so much dynamism to our country. Civil Liberties Freedom of speech is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. Once a government has the power to silence its opponents, no other right is safe. We will therefore dismantle the censorship-industrial complex, in which Big Tech censors, deplatforms, shadowbans, and algorithmically suppresses any person or opinion the government asks them to. We will respect the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, by ending mass surveillance of American citizens and the abuse of civil asset forfeiture. We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million businesses were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen. A Kennedy administration will respect American citizens and stop treating them like suspects and schoolchildren. We will stop manipulating the public with propaganda and targeted leaks. We will never weaponize the law against political opponents, nor hold our own officials above the law. We will return the intelligence agencies to their proper role as protectors not violators of liberty. We will also take special care to ensure the civil liberties of minorities and the poor. We will end the failed War on Drugs and grant amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders. We will shut the school-to-prison pipeline, and transition prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again. Instead of defunding the police, we will transform the police. We will incentivize them to prevent violence, not make unnecessary arrests. We will train them in de-escalation and mediation skills and partner them with neighborhood organizations. No longer will their relationship to the public be adversarial. They will focus their attention on serious crimes, not harassing ordinary people. Racial Healing Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. believes that this unacceptable situation is the result of the unhealed legacy of racism in this country. We must take direct action to remedy it — not only for the sake of Black people, but for the wellbeing of the entire nation. He will appeal not to guilt and blame, but to the conscience of Americans of all races who want to repair the wounds of history. Here are some of the policies he will adopt to accomplish it. 1. Targeted Community Repair Communities that were specifically targeted for destruction need to be specifically targeted for repair. During Jim Crow, Black banks, businesses, hospitals, schools, and farms were targeted for destruction. Racists knew that without these, the Black community had no chance of building wealth. We must set federal dollars aside to rebuild Black infrastructure. Targeted Community Repair will be available to devastated communities across the country, not just Black. The criteria will be around need, not skin color. However, because there are so many Black communities in need, this program will channel significant resources toward the rebuilding of these most devastated of communities. 2. Prison reform RFK Jr. will undo the legacy of the 1994 crime bill that disfavors African Americans. He will seek early release for nonviolent offenders. He will reorient the prison system around rehabilitation rather than punishment. His policy will be tough in the sense of keeping violent people where they can do no further harm, but generous in recognizing the fundamental desire of most human beings to live meaningful lives and contribute to society. 3. Police reform Kennedy will reorient police to serve, not occupy, Black communities; to keep neighborhoods safe rather than harassing their residents. The federal government will work with localities to change police culture, with pro-community incentives, training in de-escalation, and cooperation with neighborhood organizations. 4. Working class / working poor Because Black people are disproportionately represented among the working class, RFK Jr.’s policies to uplift working people will disproportionately help the Black community. These include a $15 minimum wage, tax credits, childcare subsidies, and home-buying programs. Federally-backed 3% mortgages will extend home ownership to millions of Black families. 5. Schools Black children bear the brunt of the shameful decrepitude of the schools in the cities and inner suburbs. RFK Jr.’s policy team is looking at ways to revive these schools while also supporting parents to choose other options. 6. Addiction Addiction afflicts all ethnic groups in America, but is especially devastating in conjunction with the unique legacy of racism and trauma faced by Black people. RFK Jr. will launch a nationwide network of low-cost or free addiction healing centers on organic farms available to anyone who sincerely wants to heal. 7. Youth In America’s most devastated communities, many of them heavily Black, young people have few pathways and little hope to escape their situation. RFK Jr. will expand youth programs to make them available to every young person who wants to learn skills while serving society, the environment, the sick, the elderly, and so on. 8. Free ID for all American citizens Today, many marginalized people lack a government-issued ID, locking them out of the banking system, schools, and many other social institutions. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make free passport cards available to any American citizen who wants one. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., believes that all of these policies can be accomplished only by uniting Black and White working people in conscience and compassion. He seeks to inspire a spirit of common cause, that recognizes that no one can thrive when many are left out. Native Americans Robert F Kennedy Jr inherited from his father a deep commitment to improving the lives of Native Americans. Like his father, he sees the poverty and suffering in Indian Country as our country’s greatest shame and he believes that the federal government’s unfair dealings and broken treaties with the tribal nations are our nation’s original sin. After accompanying his father on campaign trips to reservations around the country, RFK Jr was inspired to focus a significant amount of his own career on representing the interests of indigenous Americans in the United States, Canada and Latin America. He has advocated for these first Americans in courtrooms and in treaty negotiations; he has fought for them against mining, timber, hydroelectric, and oil-industry forces endeavoring to steal their resources and destroy their lands and tribal culture. RFK Jr has been on the front lines of recent battles in Indian country: he joined the water protectors at Standing Rock and he and his son Conor were arrested protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. Under a Kennedy administration, historic wrongs done to Native Americans will be addressed and made right. The spirit as well as the letter of treaties must be honored as the highest law of the land: documents made between sovereign nations. Cultural renewal will be supported and religious practices and sacred sites will be defended. Tribal sovereignty and the right of self determination will be respected. The need for restoration of illegally taken lands and resources, compensation for broken treaties, protection and enhancement of natural resources in Indian Country, will be elevated to matters of national interest and examination. Tribes will have a friend and ally in the White House. While we know some of the problems in Indian Country, we will work in partnership with Native American leaders to learn more and to find the solutions. It is the duty of the federal government to do all that it can to create a better life for all Americans—especially those who have been reprehensibly neglected. We will seek to restore trust between Native Americans and the federal government and we will work hard to deserve it. We believe it is not enough to apologize for—or even attempt to rectify—past injustices; we need to prevent current and future injustices from occurring. Revitalization Government assistance to the nation’s most vulnerable is a high priority, but even more important is to reverse the policies that have led to such poverty in the first place. We will rebuild the industrial infrastructure, ruined by forty years of off-shoring and misguided “free trade” schemes. We will enact policies that favor small and medium businesses, which are the nation’s real job creators and the dynamos of American enterprise. We will support labor in reclaiming its fair share of American prosperity. We will break up “too-big-to-fail” banks and monopolies, and when crisis strikes, bail out the homeowners, debtors, and small business owners instead. Global developments, particularly the end of the US dollar’s status as the world’s unchallenged reserve currency, portend turbulent economic conditions ahead. Yet at the same time, we know that America is fundamentally a wealthy nation, blessed with vast lands, rich resources, and a creative population. That is the vitality we will tap into to turn this country around. Another key aspect of American revitalization is our healthcare system, which consumes nearly one-fifth of GDP. It isn’t just a matter of shifting the burden of who pays. The problem is much deeper. Healthcare spending per capita has increased twelve-fold since 1960. Are we twelve times healthier? Quite the contrary: We face today a terrible pandemic—not of Covid, but of chronic disease. Autoimmunity, allergies, diabetes, obesity, addiction, anxiety, and depression afflict two-thirds of the population, up from a few percent in our grandparents’ time. A Kennedy administration will go beyond making existing modalities available to all, to include low-cost alternative and holistic therapies that have been marginalized in a pharma-dominated system. We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society. Veterans Mr. Kennedy understands veterans’ acute awareness of the true nature, enormous cost and sacrifice, and folly of America’s engagement in these conflicts. Veterans deserve recognition for their remarkable service. More importantly, they deserve a special voice in our democracy’s councils of war and peace and in re-uniting our country around shared purposes. The stark absence, except in rare circumstances, of input from veterans in the more extensive debate about the US role in the world is improper, and when he is President, Mr. Kennedy will change this on day one. Mr. Kennedy understands that veterans are not victims. Instead, your steadfast dedication to values such as accountability, duty, honor, and candor has been misused by politicians and the military-industrial complex, who have deliberately kept the true opinions of those who have served in these wars out of the conversation. For example, veterans have first hand knowledge of the waste and fraud endemic to the government contracting system, and ideas of how to fix it. Mr. Kennedy knows that only by giving veterans a “seat at the table” can Washington avoid making the same mistakes of the Global War on Terrorism again. A Seat At the Table No one knows more about the sprawling global military presence than the veterans who have implemented the policies that have built it. America has a role, but that should put the security of America and her citizens first, and no one knows better what that should look like than her veterans. When elected President, Mr. Kennedy will establish a Veterans Council within the President’s Executive Office. The purpose of this council will be to respond quickly to veteran’s issues while bypassing the bureaucracy of the VA and, in effect, bring solutions to the VA for that department to execute. Further, Mr. Kennedy will give the head of the PVC a seat at National Security Council meetings to bring your unique perspective on war and leverage your experience. Mr. Kennedy Will Protect Your Benefits and Optimize the VA Mr. Kennedy is committed to protecting the benefits you have earned through the sacrifice of your youth on behalf of this great nation. As President, Mr. Kennedy will not allow your benefits to be reduced. Instead, he will solicit your input on making those benefits more impactful to enable you to reach the highest echelons of success and prosperity. Mr. Kennedy Wants Veterans to be Community Leaders and an Economic Power Mr. Kennedy understands that service in the US military is largely generational, or in other words, a “family business.” Further, many veterans return home after one enlistment, and you have had a lifetime of experience by the age of 22. Understanding this and that leadership, fairness, discipline, and accountability are core to your persona and values as a veteran, Mr. Kennedy wants to empower you to lead your community. For too long, America has been deliberately divided against itself by those seeking self-enrichment, which has cost this nation its role and reputation as a beacon of hope and a moral leader worldwide. With your experience, leadership, and participation, and Mr. Kennedy in the White House, we will return not only to this position globally but also to heal the ever-growing divide at home. Higher Education
All the following are in constant (2021) dollars:
Addressing student debt One of the main champions of this legislation in Congress was Joe Biden. Wall Street had been clamoring for bankruptcy “reform” for many years. Corporations use bankruptcy frequently as a financial maneuver to get out of bad investments, but the Act made that impossible for many consumers, especially student debtors. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution calls for uniform bankruptcy laws. In a tradition going back to Solonic Athens, democratic societies have recognized that inescapable debt erodes the very foundation of democracy. That’s why the principle of uniform bankruptcy laws was written into the US Constitution. People should not be on the hook for a lifetime for a choice they made when they were 18 or 20 years old, a choice that was forced upon them by exorbitant higher education costs. As President, RFK Jr. will propose legislation to Congress to repeal the unfair provisions of the Act and replace it with genuine protection for indebted consumers. Allow refinancing of student loans Allowing students to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates gives them a chance to get a handle on monthly payments. If businesses can refinance loan debt, so should students. It’s time to treat college loans debt like other debts, with multiple options of paying them off. Abolish interest on student loans The effect of the bill would be enormous relief to debtors. Since the interest would be cut to zero retroactively, millions of borrowers would be immediately debt-free. Millions more would see their balances and monthly payments shrink dramatically. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will lobby Congress to pass legislation along the lines of Salwell’s bill. He will also explore other ways to achieve the same result. Currently, lenders are anticipating a massive wave of student loan defaults. Undoubtedly, lenders will clamor for bailouts. If these happen, let’s have a debtors’ bailout rather than a creditors’ bailout. That means that if the Treasury or Federal Reserve purchases distressed student loan assets, they will cut the interest rate to zero. Make schools, rather than loan institutions, responsible for defaults Systemic reforms Approximately 41 percent of all recent graduates are working jobs that do not require a college degree. College degrees are now required for many jobs that once only required a high school diploma. Some 17 percent of hotel clerks and 23.5 percent of amusement park attendants hold 4-year degrees. The result of herding masses of students through an educational model originally designed to train scholars and intellectuals has not been to raise a nation of scholars, but rather to debase the quality of education. This is the phenomenon of “degree inflation.” As the quality of higher education has declined, the value of a college degree in the job market has followed suit despite its skyrocketing cost. We will address this situation in several ways:
2. Elevate the Trades Young people who want to pursue a hands-on career should get just as much support as those who want to become academics and professionals. As President, RFK Jr. will make sure that any funding for degree problems applies equally to trade schools. Cost to society will be much lower, as these trainings typically take a year or less. 3. The Domestic Peace Corps That is why RFK Jr. is going to redesign and vastly expand the concept of the Peace Corps to include a domestic service corps open to anyone who has graduated from high school. Young people will be able to learn skills as they do meaningful work. The work may include ecological restoration, infrastructure repair, care for the sick and elderly, assistance in the schools, helping the disabled, and many other areas of service. Americorps That is why Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is going to transform the existing Americorps program to offer a new option to young people who want to gain skills, step into adult responsibilities, and most of all, act on their altruism and desire to serve something larger than themselves. Americorps, officially known as the National Civilian Community Corps, was founded in 1994 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps, which President John F. Kennedy established the in 1961. Today, the kind of service the Peace Corps has done in the world is needed urgently in our own country. The existing Americorps is just a one-year program open only to college grads. The transformed Americorps will be open to all people 18 and older who want to make a four year commitment to service, in areas such as:
Each of these areas represents a huge unmet need for our country. For example, some estimate that 500,00-600,000 skilled workers are needed for infrastructure repair alone. There is plenty of meaningful work to be done to revitalize our country! The expanded Americorps will develop relationships with other organizations such as trade unions and NGOs to ensure the labor and creativity of Americorps volunteers supports existing organizations. Benefits to participants will be on a par with benefits to military veterans:
The expanded Americorps will offer an exciting and fulfilling path into adulthood for hundreds of thousands of young people. The requirements placed upon them will be challenging, rivaling the expectations of soldiers in the military, but they will leave the program capable, confident, and ready to continue contributing to society. The expanded Americorps will also provide a transition zone for retiring military personnel who want to continue serving their country while learning economically useful civilian skills. The focus areas of the expanded Americorps coincide with high-demand professions, particularly in construction and repair. Americorps will give veterans a place to apply their leadership skills as supervisors and mentors while also developing skills suitable for civilian life. Their transition will symbolize that of our entire nation, as we become the world-inspiring example of peace that John F. Kennedy aspired to when he founded the original Peace Corps in 1961. Labor The Administration of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make defense of the rights of workers a cardinal principle of governance. He believes that high wages and benefits are essential to the economic security of families and the nation. Unions allow workers to claim their fair share of the business profits they contribute to. Accordingly, Mr. Kennedy will defend these worker’s rights:
Mr. Kennedy will vigorously defend these and other workers' rights and use the power of the presidency to uplift the standing of workers throughout the nation. He will:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is committed to being the strongest pro-labor President since the 1960s, as part of his broader commitment to restore a strong middle class in America.[14] [1] |
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HONEST GOVERNMENT From his long experience and familiarity with systems of power, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. understands that most people in corporations and government are perfectly decent human beings. They play the game, but a lot of them are fed up with its phoniness, and cynical about the paralysis of the system. They feel trapped in it. Clean government isn’t just about removing corrupt individuals. It is about changing a system in which perfectly decent people become agents of corruption without even knowing it. "The blizzard of misinformation that is now inundating our democracy will end only when the government and the media start telling the truth to Americans." We are going to remake public institutions to serve the public. We will roll back the secrecy and make government transparent. We will protect whistleblowers and prosecute officials who abuse the public trust. We will rein in the lobbyists and slam shut the revolving door that shunts people from government agencies to lucrative positions in the companies they were supposed to regulate, and back again. We will get money out of politics. We will open our institutions to real citizen involvement. We will restore integrity to government. RECONCILIATION "My aim is to convince every Democrat that you’re not a Democrat, and every Republican that you’re not a Republican." Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions. No one is deplorable. Furthermore, most of the disagreements obscure deeper shared values. Everyone wants their children to be safe. Few relish the thought of dead fetuses, nor do they want to force women to have unwanted babies. Everyone wants safe streets, yet few wish for millions of people to languish in prison. Robert F. Kennedy will draw on the broad moral agreements beneath our divisions. He will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other. He will lead the way toward national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow, and to forgive. In the case of race relations, reconciliation includes repairing the damage caused by centuries of bigotry. Our administration will take racial healing seriously through a program of Targeted Community Repair. Our operating principle is not guilt for the sins of one’s ancestors, but rather compassion. We will invoke the authentic desire in all Americans, white and black, liberal and conservative, to improve the condition of our Black and Native brothers and sisters. These commitments to respect and unity start right now, in the campaign. In Kennedy's own words, “Every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician to do is to appeal to our greed, to our anger, to our fear, to our xenophobia, our bigotry, all of the alchemies of tribalism. I will appeal instead to our generosity as a people, our goodness, our kindness, and our courage.” ENVIRONMENT "Good environmental policy – 100% of the time – is identical to good economic policy." Recent years have seen one environmental disaster after another: floods and droughts, fires, and toxic spills. Our soils are depleted, the weather is wacky, trees are dying, and the water in many places is toxic. Chronic disease is at an all-time high. We’re going to address these problems at their root causes. First, we will shift agricultural subsidies so as to encourage regenerative practices. Today, a new generation of farmers and ranchers is building soil, replenishing groundwater, and detoxifying land, all while producing just as much food as conventional farmers and earning a decent livelihood. Secondly, we will incentive the transition of industry to zero-waste cycles and clean energy sources, and forge agreements with other countries to implement these policies throughout the global supply chain. These first two policies will vastly reduce the toxic waste, industrial poisons, and pesticides that make people and ecosystems sick. Finally, we will protect wild lands from further development, by curbing mining, logging, oil drilling, and suburban sprawl. We will become a global advocate for rainforest preservation and marine restoration. We will rethink development policies that promised economic growth while ignoring ecological sustainability, and ended up delivering neither. REVITALIZATION Government assistance to the nation’s most vulnerable is a high priority, but even more important is to reverse the policies that have led to such poverty in the first place. We will rebuild the industrial infrastructure, ruined by forty years of off-shoring and misguided “free trade” schemes. We will enact policies that favor small and medium businesses, which are the nation’s real job creators and the dynamos of American enterprise. We will support labor in reclaiming its fair share of American prosperity. We will break up “too-big-to-fail” banks and monopolies, and when crisis strikes, bail out the homeowners, debtors, and small business owners instead. Global developments, particularly the end of the US dollar’s status as the world’s unchallenged reserve currency, portend turbulent economic conditions ahead. Yet at the same time, we know that America is fundamentally a wealthy nation, blessed with vast lands, rich resources, and a creative population. That is the vitality we will tap into to turn this country around. Another key aspect of American revitalization is our healthcare system, which consumes nearly one-fifth of GDP. It isn’t just a matter of shifting the burden of who pays. The problem is much deeper. Healthcare spending per capita has increased twelve-fold since 1960. Are we twelve times healthier? Quite the contrary: We face today a terrible pandemic—not of Covid, but of chronic disease. Autoimmunity, allergies, diabetes, obesity, addiction, anxiety, and depression afflict two-thirds of the population, up from a few percent in our grandparents’ time. A Kennedy administration will go beyond making existing modalities available to all, to include low-cost alternative and holistic therapies that have been marginalized in a pharma-dominated system. We will move from a sick care system to a wellness society. PEACE A high priority of a Kennedy administration will be to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance. As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country. “America cannot be an empire abroad and continue to be a democracy at home.” In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F. Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries. We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, “Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Robert F. Kennedy will revive a lost thread of American foreign policy thinking, the one championed by his uncle, John F. Kennedy who, over his 1000 days in office, had become a firm anti-imperialist. He wanted to exit Vietnam. He defied the Joint Chiefs of Staff and refused to bomb Cuba, thus saving us from nuclear Armageddon. He wanted to reverse the imperialistic policies of Truman and Eisenhower, rein in the CIA, and support freedom movements around the world. He wanted to revive Roosevelt’s impulse to dissolve the British empire rather than take it over. John F. Kennedy’s vision was tragically cut short by an assassin’s bullet. But now we have another chance. The country is ailing, yes, but underneath there is vitality still. America is a land rich in resources, creativity, and intelligence. We just need to get serious about healing our society, to become strong again from the inside. America was once an inspiration to the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy. Our priority will be nothing less than to restore our moral leadership. We will lead by example. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation. CIVIL LIBERTIES Freedom of speech is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. Once a government has the power to silence its opponents, no other right is safe. We will therefore dismantle the censorship-industrial complex, in which Big Tech censors, deplatforms, shadowbans, and algorithmically suppresses any person or opinion the government asks them to. We will respect the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, by ending mass surveillance of American citizens and the abuse of civil asset forfeiture. We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million business were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen. A Kennedy administration will respect American citizens and stop treating them like suspects and schoolchildren. We will stop manipulating the public with propaganda and targeted leaks. We will never weaponize the law against political opponents, nor hold our own officials above the law. We will return the intelligence agencies to their proper role as protectors not violators of liberty. "The free flow of information is the sunlight and water and fertilizer for democracy." We will also take special care to ensure the civil liberties of minorities and the poor. We will end the failed War on Drugs and grant amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders. We will shut the school-to-prison pipeline, and transition prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again. Instead of defunding the police, we will transform the police. We will incentivize them to prevent violence, not make unnecessary arrests. We will train them in deescalation and mediation skills and partner them with neighborhood organizations. No longer will their relationship to the public be adversarial. They will focus their attention on serious crimes, not harassing ordinary people.[15] [1] |
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Policy positions
Immigration
Kennedy's campaign website said, "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. sees the situation at the border primarily as a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis that has spread far beyond the border, as a flood of migrants has overwhelmed the resources of cities as far away as New York. The suffering of the migrants at the hands of drug cartels, human traffickers, and exploitative employers is heartbreaking. As President, Kennedy is going to end the humanitarian crisis, starting with its most immediate cause — an uncontrolled border. As he seals the border to illegal immigration, his administration will enact deeper reforms to stem illegal migration in the long term, while expanding lawful, orderly immigration according to principles of justice and fairness. We must recognize that the foremost victims of a porous, chaotic border are the immigrants themselves. Compassion and decency demand that we do not allow the current situation to continue." [source, as of 2024-08-01]
Healthcare
Kennedy's campaign website said, "During RFK Jr.’s first week in office, he will convene a meeting at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to declare a major shift in priorities: The federal government will refocus its $50 billion medical research budget toward chronic disease prevention. Kennedy will start funding studies into the causes of chronic disease, including toxic chemicals (PFAS, glyphosate, neonics, etc.), air and water pollution, microplastics, electromagnetic pollution, ultra-processed foods, and pharmaceutical products." [source, as of 2024-08-15]
Energy and environmental issues
Kennedy's campaign website said, "In a true free-market system, private corporations are supposed to pay for their own costs. But today, many big corporations internalize their profits as they externalize the costs of their environmental damage, meaning that the American public ends up paying instead of the polluters. [...] As President, Kennedy will support public policies that require fossil fuel companies to internalize their costs. Then the free market will be able to do its job of punishing waste — pollution is waste — and incentivizing efficiency." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Trade
Kennedy's campaign website said, "Neoliberal free trade policies set American workers into competition with workers in low-wage countries that have few labor protections where, in some cases, unions are non-existent. Mr. Kennedy will make labor protections the centerpiece of any future trade agreements." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Economy
Kennedy's campaign website said, "We can restore the American middle class by reversing the missteps of the last 50 years. A massive military machine has nearly bankrupted this country. Rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class. Official unemployment is low — but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector. Wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% since Biden took office. Under the Biden administration, the price of an average home has risen from $250,000 to around $400,000, and mortgage rates have more than doubled. Rents have followed the trend, putting more and more people on the edge of catastrophe. But we can turn it around. Being able to afford a decent life doesn’t mean working more hours. It means higher pay and lower bills." [source, as of 2024-08-01]
Criminal justice
Kennedy's campaign website said, "We will end the failed War on Drugs and grant amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders. We will shut the school-to-prison pipeline, and transition prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Foreign policy
Kennedy's campaign website said, "A high priority of a Kennedy administration will be to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance. As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country." [source, as of 2024-08-01]
Abortion
Kennedy's campaign website said, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a medical freedom advocate and supports a woman’s right to choose until a fetus is viable. At the same time, Kennedy’s policy will dramatically reduce abortion in our country, and it will do so by offering more choices for women and families, not less. A lot of women, when they get pregnant, feel they can’t afford to have a baby. There isn’t a lot of support to raise a child in this society. You can’t call yourself pro-life if you are concerned only with life before birth. What about after birth? We have to make our society as welcoming as possible to children and to motherhood." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Coronavirus response
Kennedy's campaign website said, " We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million businesses were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Government ethics
Kennedy's campaign website listed the following policies, "Install honest, competent leadership throughout the federal bureaucracy, agency by agency, root out corruption and replace corporate-friendly agency leaders with reformers and whistleblowers dedicated to the national interest, shut the revolving door by executive order with a five year ban on administration officials lobbying their former government agency, make the agencies transparent to public view, so that the American people can once again have faith that their government works for them — not big corporations." [source, as of 2024-08-01]
Opioids and drug issues
Kennedy's campaign said in a press release, "Drug overdoses kill more than 100,000 Americans every year, and millions more are on the brink of death due to lethal drugs like fentanyl. As President, Kennedy will prioritize solutions to America’s drug addiction crisis by building a network of healing farms where people struggling with addiction can reconnect with the land, learn new skills, and ultimately, rebuild their lives. Healing farms, which will be funded by a federal tax on marijuana, which Kennedy will push to legalize, will provide recovering Americans with healthy food, mentoring, and the opportunity to learn new skills such as farming, carpentry, culinary arts, entrepreneurship, and more." [source, as of 2024-06-15]
Veterans
Kennedy's campaign website said, "When elected President, Mr. Kennedy will establish a Veterans Council within the President’s Executive Office. The purpose of this council will be to respond quickly to veteran’s issues while bypassing the bureaucracy of the VA and, in effect, bring solutions to the VA for that department to execute. Further, Mr. Kennedy will give the head of the PVC a seat at National Security Council meetings to bring your unique perspective on war and leverage your experience. Mr. Kennedy is committed to protecting the benefits you have earned through the sacrifice of your youth on behalf of this great nation. As President, Mr. Kennedy will not allow your benefits to be reduced. Instead, he will solicit your input on making those benefits more impactful to enable you to reach the highest echelons of success and prosperity." [source, as of 2024-08-14]
Other policy positions
Click on any of the following links to read more policy positions from the 2024 presidential candidates.
Administrative state
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Coronavirus response
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Economy
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Education
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Election policy
Energy and environmental issues
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Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
Federalism
Foreign policy
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Government ethics
Gun regulation
Healthcare
Sex and gender issues
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Immigration
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Campaign logo and slogan
The table below displays this candidate's campaign logo and slogan. Click here to view more campaign logos and slogans in the 2024 presidential race.
| 2024 presidential candidate logos | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Logo | Slogan | |
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr. |  |
| |
Campaign staff
- See also: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential campaign staff, 2024, Presidential election key staffers, 2024, and Presidential election campaign managers, 2024
The table below shows a partial list of national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager, senior advisors, political directors, communications directors, field directors, and the national press secretary. They are presented alongside their positions in the campaign, their most recent positions prior to the campaign, and their Twitter handles. To recommend additions, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
- See also: Presidential election campaign managers and key staffers, 2024
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential campaign national staff, 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Amaryllis Fox Kennedy[16] | Campaign manager | Co-campaign manager, 2024 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presidential campaign | @amaryllisfox |
| Charles Eisenstein[17] | Senior advisor | Author | @ceisenstein |
| Link Lauren[17] | Senior advisor | TikTok influencer | @itslinklauren |
| John E. Sullivan[18] | Campaign treasurer | Attorney | N/A |
| Del Bigtree[19] | Communications director | Executive director, Informed Consent Action Network | @delbigtree |
| Stefanie Spear[20] | Press secretary | Founder and CEO, Stellar Consulting | @StefanieSpear |
Social media and campaign website
Campaign website
Social media accounts
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Facebook
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Twitter
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on YouTube
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Instagram
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Rumble
Timeline of campaign activity
The following section provides a timeline of Kennedy's campaign activity beginning from April 2023 to October 2023, and from March 2024 to August 2024. The entries are sorted by month in reverse chronological order.
2024
- August 23, 2024: Kennedy withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump (R). Kennedy said he would remove his name from the ballot in battleground states, and remain on the ballot in other states.[21]
- August 17, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Alabama, Arizona, and Montana.[22]
- August 14, 2024: Kenndey appealed the New York ballot access ruling removing him from the ballot in the state.[23]
- August 12, 2024: New York Supreme Court 3rd Judicial District Judge Christina Ryba disqualified Kennedy from the New York presidential ballot based on issues with the home address he listed on his nominating petitions.[24]
- August 9, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Washington, D.C..[25]
- August 6, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in South Dakota and Wisconsin.[26]
- July 31, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia.[27]
- July 29, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.[28]
- July 26, 2024: Kennedy spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.[29]
- July 24, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted the required paperwork and fees to gain ballot access in Louisiana.[30]
- July 21, 2024: Kennedy commented on Joe Biden's (D) withdrawal from the presidential race. Kennedy said, "I commend President Biden for stepping down. His infirmities were evident to any unbiased observer from the beginning. It was this progressive deterioration — and his abandonment of Democratic Party principles — that prompted me to enter the race and ensure American voters had a viable, vigorous alternative to Donald Trump. [...] I call on the Democratic Party to return to its traditional commitment to democracy and exemplify it with an open process."[31]
- July 13, 2024: Kennedy commented on the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump (R). Kennedy said, "Now is the time for every American who loves our country to step back from the division, renounce all violence, and unite in prayer for President Trump and his family."[32]
- July 12, 2024: Kennedy spoke at FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Nevada.[33]
- July 11, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in Colorado as an independent candidate. The Colorado Libertarian Party also voted to nominate Kennedy as its presidential nominee on July 2, 2024. Kennedy's campaign said, "Along with appearing as an Independent on the ballot in Colorado, the Kennedy campaign has welcomed the opportunity to also appear as the nominee of the LPCO and is assessing the permissibility of listing both in recognition of this historic alliance."[34]
- July 10, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in Georgia.[35]
- July 9, 2024: Kennedy held a campaign event in Freeport, Maine.[36]
- July 2, 2024: The Colorado Libertarian Party voted to nominate Kennedy as its presidential candidate. The party said in June it would not nominate Chase Oliver (L), the national Libertarian nominee, due to policy disagreements.[37]
- July 1, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in New Mexico.[38]
- June 27, 2024: Kennedy held a live stream where he responded to the presidential debate between Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R).[39]
- June 25, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in Illinois.[40]
- June 21, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in Pennsylvania.[41]
- June 20, 2024:
- Kennedy issued a statement in response to not qualifying for the June 27 presidential debate. Kennedy said, "Presidents Biden and Trump do not want me on the debate stage and CNN illegally agreed to their demand. My exclusion by Presidents Biden and Trump from the debate is undemocratic, un-American, and cowardly. Americans want an independent leader who will break apart the two-party duopoly. They want a President who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, unwind the war machine, and end the chronic disease epidemic."[42]
- The June monthly Federal Election Commission campaign finance reporting deadline passed. Kennedy raised $3 million and spent $6 million, with $6 million cash on hand as of May 31.[43]
- June 18, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted enough signatures to gain ballot access in Nebraska.[44]
- June 17, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gained ballot access in Mississippi. In a press release, the campaign said Kennedy would run on the We The People Party ballot line. Kennedy's campaign founded the We The People Party to help him gain ballot access.[45]
- June 15, 2024: Kennedy attended the premiere of "Recovering America," a documentary his campaign made about drug addiction and recovery programs, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[46]
- June 13, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot in Washington, Tennessee, and Alaska.[47][48]Cite error: Closing
</ref>missing for<ref>tag - June 7, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had submitted a petition with enough signatures to achieve ballot access in Minnesota. The campaign said it had gained ballot access in enough states to qualify for at least 270 electoral votes.[49]
- May 31, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had achieved ballot access in South Carolina by receiving the nomination of the Alliance Party.[50]
- May 30, 2024: Kennedy commented on Donald Trump's (R) guilty verdict in New York. Kennedy said, "The Democratic Party's strategy is to beat President Trump in the courtroom rather than the ballot box. This will backfire in November. Even worse, it is profoundly undemocratic. [...] I’m also running against President Trump in this election. The difference is I’m challenging him on his record."[51]
- May 28, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to qualify for ballot access in New York.[52]
- May 24, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had achieved ballot access in New Jersey by submitting enough signatures to qualify, and said it had achieved ballot access in Florida by receiving the Reform Party nomination.[53][54]
- May 22, 2024: CNN reported that the Kennedy campaign’s Black voter outreach director, Angela Stanton King, resigned.[55]
- May 19, 2024: Kennedy held a campaign event in Aurora, Colorado.[56]
- May 16, 2024:
- Kennedy's campaign said that it had enough signatures to gain ballot access in New Jersey.[57]
- Kennedy attended a fundraiser in Nashville, Tennessee.[58]
- May 15, 2024: Kennedy issued a statement about Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R) agreeing to debate each other in June and September, saying, "Presidents Trump and Biden are colluding to lock America into a head-to-head match-up that 70% say they do not want. They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win. Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy. Forty-three percent of Americans identify as independents. If Americans are ever going to escape the hammerlock of the two-party system, now is the time to do it. These are the two most unpopular candidates in living memory. By excluding me from the stage, Presidents Biden and Trump seek to avoid discussion of their eight years of mutual failure including deficits, wars, lockdowns, chronic disease, and inflation."[59]
- May 13, 2024:
- Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to gain ballot access in Texas.[60]
- Kennedy held a rally in Austin, Texas.[61]
- May 9, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had filed the statement of candidacy and electors and paid the filing fee necessary to gain ballot access in Oklahoma.[62]
- May 8, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to gain ballot access in Ohio.[63]
- May 7, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gained ballot access in Delaware. In a press release, the campaign said the Independent Party of Delaware had selected Kennedy as its presidential nominee, meaning Kennedy will appear on the Independent Party ballot line.[64]
- April 29, 2024:
- Kennedy's campaign said it had gained presidential ballot access in California. In a press release, the campaign said the California American Independent Party had selected Kennedy as its presidential nominee, meaning Kennedy will appear on the American Independent Party's ballot line.[65]
- Kennedy attended a private campaign fundraiser in Boston, Massachusetts.[66]
- April 28, 2024: Kennedy held a rally in Long Island, New York.[67]
- April 27, 2024: Kennedy held a campaign event in West Seneca, New York.[68]
- April 24, 2024: Kennedy spoke about environmental issues at the EarthX Congress of Conferences in Dallas, Texas.[69]
- April 20, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gained presidential ballot access in Hawaii. In a press release, the campaign said Kennedy would run on the We The People Party ballot line, which is a political party founded by the Kennedy campaign to help him gain ballot access.[70]
- April 21, 2024: Kennedy participated in a comedy show fundraiser in Detroit, Michigan.[71]
- April 18, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gained presidential ballot access in Michigan. In a press release, the campaign said the Michigan Natural Law Party had selected Kennedy as its presidential nominee, meaning Kennedy would appear on the Natural Law Party's ballot line.[72]
- April 13, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gained presidential ballot access in Iowa by holding an in-person convention in Des Moines. Iowa's filing deadline was Aug. 16.
- April 9, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the presidential ballot in Nebraska.[73] The filing deadline was Aug. 1.
- April 4, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the presidential ballot in Idaho.[74] The filing deadline was Aug. 1.
- April 1, 2024: Kennedy's campaign said it had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the presidential ballot in North Carolina.[75]
- March 30, 2024: Kennedy held a Cesar Chavez Day event in Los Angeles, California.[76]
- March 26, 2024: Kennedy selected patent lawyer and entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan (I) as his running mate.[77]
2023
- October 9, 2023: Kennedy withrew from the Democratic primary and announced he would run as an independent.[4]
- October 7, 2023: Kennedy issued a statement in response to Hamas' military attacks against Israel, and Israel's subsequent declaration of war. Kennedy said, "This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. [...] I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action."[78]
- October 6, 2023: Kennedy joined a United Auto Workers (UAW) picket line in Swartz Creek, Michigan.[79]
- October 2, 2023: Kennedy spoke about religious liberties at the National Apostolic Christian Leadership Conference in Jackson, Mississippi.[80]
- October 1, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia.[81]
- September 30, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia.[82]
- September 18, 2023: Kennedy held a fundraiser in Los Angeles, California, featuring a musical performance from Eric Clapton.[83]
- September 15, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign event in Los Angeles, California.[84]
- September 13, 2023: Kennedy spoke at former Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) No B.S. Backyard Barbecue in Rye, New Hampshire.[85]
- September 12, 2023: Kennedy wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled "The Democratic Party Rigs the Primaries." Kennedy wrote, "The DNC has refused to host debates, though a vast majority of Democratic voters want and expect them so they can judge which candidate has the popular appeal and vigor to challenge the Republican nominee. Even if candidates reach voters anyway, the party is trying to stack the primary schedule in Joe Biden’s favor. The DNC has revoked New Hampshire’s century-old status as the first primary state and replaced it with South Carolina. Mr. Biden won the latter in 2020, but he lost both the New Hampshire primary and the Iowa caucus."[86]
- September 11, 2023: Kennedy held a town hall in Walpole, New Hampshire.[87]
- September 9, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign event in North Charleston, South Carolina.[88]
- August 30, 2023: Kennedy held a town hall in Brooklyn, New York.[89]
- August 22, 2023: Kennedy held a town hall in Spartanburg, South Carolina.[90]
- August 21, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign event in Greenville, South Carolina.[91]
- August 16, 2023: Kennedy held a town hall in Charleston, South Carolina.[92]
- August 12, 2023: Kennedy spoke at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox event at the Iowa State Fair. Click here to view his remarks.[93]
- August 6, 2023: Kennedy spoke at the opening of his New Hampshire campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire.[94]
- August 3, 2023: Kennedy released a policy plan about the United States-Mexico border. Kennedy wrote, "Our policy will be first, to get the border under control. Second, to work with other countries to stem the tide of migrants. Third, to fully fund and prioritize the administrative infrastructure for lawful, orderly immigration to this country."[95]
- July 25, 2023:
- Kennedy held a campaign event in New York City where he discussed Israel policy and his opposition to anti-semitism with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.[96]
- Kennedy participated in a Fox News town hall in New York City.[97]
- July 15, 2023: The July quarterly Federal Election Commission campaign finance reporting deadline passed. Kennedy reported raising $6 million and spending $2 million with $5 million in cash on hand as of June 30.[98]
- July 2, 2023: Kennedy appeared at a UNITE HERE Local 11 picket line in Los Angeles, California. Unite Here Local 11 represents "workers employed in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas, and convention centers.[99][100]
- June 27, 2023: Moms for Liberty said Kennedy canceled his appearance at their summit taking place from June 29 to July 2. A representative for the organization told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Kennedy's campaign "told us his schedule changed and he can no longer speak to our summit."[101]
- June 24, 2023: Kennedy appeared at a campaign fundraiser in Brentwood, California.[102]
- June 23, 2023: Kennedy participated in a WMUR televised town hall with New Hampshire voters.[103]
- June 21, 2023: Kennedy spoke at an Ethan Allen Institute event in South Burlington, Vermont.[104]
- June 20, 2023: Kennedy delivered a speech on foreign policy in Goffstown, New Hampshire.[105]
- June 15, 2023: Kennedy attended a campaign fundraising event. Venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya and David Sacks hosted the fundraiser.[106]
- June 7, 2023: Kennedy campaigned in Yuma, Arizona.[107]
- June 5, 2023: Kennedy participated in a live-streamed conversation on Twitter. Other speakers included Elon Musk and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.[108]
- June 1, 2023: Kennedy campaigned in New Hampshire and spoke before the New Hampshire Senate.[109]
- May 29, 2023: Kennedy spoke at a Memorial Day event in San Diego, California.[110]
- May 19, 2023: Kennedy spoke at the Bitcoin 2023 conference.[111]
- May 18, 2023: Kennedy announced that former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) would serve as his campaign manager.[112]
- May 11, 2023: Kennedy commented on the end of Title 42, saying, "We need to take strong measures to put a stop to the chaotic and unlawful influx of immigrants. And we must do it in a humane fashion. Shunting migrants from one city to another like some kind of political football is no solution."[113]
- May 9, 2023: Kennedy joined a Writers Guild of America picket line outside of Amazon Studios in Culver City, California.[114]
- April 25, 2023: Kennedy issued a statement responding to President Joe Biden's (D) announcement that he would seek re-election. Kennedy said, "I have known and liked Joe Biden for many years, but we differ profoundly on fundamental issues such as corporate influence in government, censorship, civil liberties, poverty, corruption, and war policy, among others. I look forward to engaging him in debates and town hall meetings, in a primary election that is honest, civil, and transparent. I invite him into a new era of respectful dialog in these times of division."[115]
- April 19, 2023: Kennedy held a campaign launch event in Boston, Massachusetts.[116]
- April 5, 2023: Kennedy announced his candidacy for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.[117]
Noteworthy events
Court disqualifies Kennedy from New York presidential election ballot
On August 12, 2024, New York Supreme Court 3rd Judicial District Judge Christina Ryba ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (I) should be removed from the presidential election ballot in New York because he falsely claimed residence in the state on ballot access petitions. Ryba wrote, "The overwhelming credible evidence introduced at trial established that Kennedy's connections with the [New York] address existed only on paper and were maintained for the sole purpose of maintaining his voter registration and political standing in the State of New York."
Kennedy responded to the ruling saying, "The Democrats are showing contempt for democracy. They aren’t confident they can win at the ballot box, so they are trying to stop voters from having a choice. We will appeal and we will win."[118]
Clear Choice Action, a political action committee, filed the lawsuit. Following the initial ruling, the organization said, "The Kennedy team will undoubtedly file desperate lawsuit after desperate lawsuit in the coming days and weeks; they will fail, and it will not change the simple truth: he lied, and he’s being held accountable."[119]
Kennedy's campaign filed an appeal on August 14.[120][118][121] Kennedy filed a request for an emergency intervention from the United States Supreme Court on September 23, 2024.[122] The Supreme Court said it would not intervene on September 27, 2024.[123]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 C-SPAN, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Declares Independent Candidacy," October 9, 2023
- ↑ CNN, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files paperwork to run for president as a Democrat," April 5, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Associated Press, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid," accessed October 9, 2023
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abandons plan to seek votes in uncompetitive states," September 5, 2024
- ↑ YouTube, "LIVE: RFK Jr. speaks after withdrawing from the ballot in Arizona," August 23, 2024
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on March 26, 2024," accessed March 26, 2024
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Biography, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," accessed April 21, 2023
- ↑ The New York Times, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Hired by Morgenthau," March 28, 1982
- ↑ The New York Times, "NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; A Quiet Victory For Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," June 4, 1985
- ↑ Influence Watch, "Waterkeeper Alliance," accessed April 21, 2023
- ↑ Children's Health Defense, "Home," accessed April 21, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Policies," accessed August 7, 2024
- ↑ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign website, "Policies," accessed March 20, 2024
- ↑ Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign website, "Priorities," accessed April 21, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Campaign Announces New Campaign Manager," October 13, 2023
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Daily Beast, "Meet the Misfits Working to Elect RFK Jr.," August 26, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "db" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ CNN, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files paperwork to run for president as a Democrat," April 5, 2023
- ↑ The Hill, "Leading anti-vaccine activist joins RFK Jr. campaign as communications director," January 1, 2024
- ↑ ABC News, "RFK Jr. says he’s not anti-vaccine. His record shows the opposite. It’s one of many inconsistencies," July 31, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Announces Suspension of Campaign," August 23, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Officially on Ballot in Texas, Submits Ballot Access Signatures in D.C.," August 9, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Appeals Ruling in New York Ballot Access Residency Case," August 14, 2024
- ↑ Associated Press, "Judge rules against RFK Jr. in fight to be on New York’s ballot, says he is not a state resident," August 12, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Officially on Ballot in Texas, Submits Ballot Access Signatures in D.C.," August 9, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Ballot Access Signatures in South Dakota and Wisconsin, Completes Filing in Nevada, Officially Certified in Vermont," August 6, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Surpasses 1 Million Signatures, Completes Petitioning in 8 More States, Will Soon Be on Ballot in All 50 States + DC," July 31, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Turns in Ballot Access Signatures in 9 More States, Officially on Ballot in 3 More States," July 29, 2024
- ↑ X, "Kennedy on July 26, 2024," accessed July 29, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Files for Ballot Access in Louisiana," July 24, 2024
- ↑ X, "Kennedy on July 21, 2024," accessed July 23, 2024
- ↑ X, "Kennedy on July 13, 2024," accessed July 15, 2024
- ↑ Nevada Independent, "Kennedy touts his ‘anti-establishment’ approach at FreedomFest," July 12, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Double the Signatures Needed to Gain Ballot Access in Colorado," July 11, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Double Signatures Needed to Gain Ballot Access in Georgia," July 10, 2024
- ↑ WGME, "RFK Jr. meets with Maine farmers at campaign stop in Freeport," July 9, 2024
- ↑ Colorado Politics, "Colorado Libertarians designate RFK Jr. to state's November ballot after snubbing party's own ticket," July 3, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Triple Number of Signatures Required to Gain Ballot Access in New Mexico," July 1, 2024
- ↑ X, "Kennedy on June 27, 2024," accessed June 28, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Double the Necessary Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Illinois," June 25, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Swing State Pennsylvania," June 21, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Exclusion From CNN Debate Stage Is ‘Undemocratic, UnAmerican, and Cowardly,’" June 20, 2024
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "June Monthly," accessed June 21, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Nebraska," June 18, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "We The People Party Gains Ballot Access in Mississippi, Will Nominate Kennedy," June 17, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Premiers ‘Recovering America,’ Shares Solutions to Our Nation’s Addiction Crisis," June 15, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Alaska," June 13, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Submits Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Tennessee," June 13, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Ballot Access Exceeds 270 Electoral Votes After Campaign Submits Minnesota Signatures," June 7, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Gains Ballot Access in South Carolina," May 31, 2024
- ↑ X, "Kennedy on May 30, 2024," accessed May 31, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Campaign Turns in 135,519 Signatures in Historic Ballot Access Victory in New York," May 28, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Receives Reform Party Nomination Granting Ballot Access in Florida and Major Fundraising Advantages," May 24, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Turns in New Jersey Signatures, Clears Third of Four Polls Needed for CNN Debate," May 24, 2024
- ↑ CNN, "RFK Jr. adviser on abortion and Black voter outreach steps away from campaign" accessed May 22, 2024
- ↑ Denver Post "Independent presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds Aurora rally as he attempts to get on Colorado’s ballot" accessed May 20, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Collects Signatures Needed to Gain Ballot Access in New Jersey." date accessed May 17, 2024
- ↑ Tennessee Lookout "Independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Jr. makes brief, late stop in Nashville" date accessed May 17, 2024
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on May 15, 2024," accessed May 16, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy, Shanahan Turn in 245,572 Signatures in Historic Ballot Access Victory in Texas," May 13, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy, Shanahan to Hold Voter Rally in Austin," May 6, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Officially on Ballot in Oklahoma," May 9, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Collects Signatures Needed to Gain Ballot Access in Ohio," May 8, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Gains Ballot Access in Delaware," May 7, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy-Shanahan on California Ballot," April 29, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "A Private Reception with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cheryl Hines, moderated by Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy in Boston, MA," accessed April 30, 2024
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on April 15, 2024," accessed April 29, 2024
- ↑ WIVB, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaigns in West Seneca," April 28, 2024
- ↑ NBC DFW, "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to speak about environmental issues at North Texas conference," April 24, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Campaign Wins First DNC Ballot Access Challenge, We The People Party Officially on Ballot in Hawaii," April 20, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "RFK Jr. Hosts ‘A Night of Laughter’ in Detroit With Rob Schneider, Dave Landau, Heather Jay, Tre Stewart + More," accessed April 22, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Gains Ballot Access in Battle Ground State of Michigan," April 18, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Collects Needed Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Nebraska," April 4, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Collects Needed Signatures to Gain Ballot Access in Idaho," April 4, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Collects Signatures Needed to Gain Ballot Access in Swing State North Carolina," April 1, 2024
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "RFK Jr. to Host Cesar Chavez Day," March 21, 2024
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on March 26, 2024," accessed March 26, 2024
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on October 7, 2023," accessed October 10, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on October 6, 2023," accessed October 10, 2023
- ↑ SuperTalk, "Presidential candidate RFK Jr. to speak in Mississippi on Monday," October 2, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Hits Campaign Trail in Atlanta," September 27, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Hits Campaign Trail in Atlanta," September 27, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "PRIVATE RECEPTION WITH ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR. FEATURING A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY ERIC CLAPTON," accessed September 19, 2023
- ↑ CNN, "Man accused of carrying loaded weapon at RFK Jr. campaign event," September 16, 2023
- ↑ WMUR, "Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes stage at New Hampshire campaign event that typically hosts Republicans," September 13, 2023
- ↑ Wall Street Journal, "The Democratic Party Rigs the Primaries," September 12, 2023
- ↑ WMUR, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds 'Day of Service' event, town hall at organic farm in Walpole," September 11, 2023
- ↑ WCBD, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. initiates South Carolina campaign with Charleston HQ and events," September 9, 2023
- ↑ NTD, "Democratic Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Holds Town Hall Meeting in New York," August 30, 2023
- ↑ Spartanburg Herald-Journal, "RFK Jr stops in SC: Democratic presidential candidate intrigues GOP, Independent voters," August 23, 2023
- ↑ WSPA, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes campaign stop in Greenville," August 21, 2023
- ↑ Post and Courier, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tests longshot 2024 campaign in SC, Joe Biden’s savior state," August 16, 2023
- ↑ C-SPAN, "Robert Kennedy, Jr. Speaks at Iowa State Fair," August 12, 2023
- ↑ NH Journal, "RFK Jr. Opens Manchester HQ, Says Campaign ‘On the Move’ in NH," August 6, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy Announces Border Policy, Premiers ‘Midnight at the Border’ Documentary," August 3, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on July 25, 2023," accessed July 26, 2023
- ↑ Kennedy's campaign website, "“Hannity” Town Hall with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.," accessed July 26, 2023
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "July Quarterly," accessed July 16, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on July 2, 2023," accessed July 3, 2023
- ↑ UNITE HERE Local 11, "Home," accessed July 3, 2023
- ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will no longer speak at Moms for Liberty summit in Philly," June 27, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on June 25, 2023," accessed June 26, 2023
- ↑ WMUR, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 presidential hopeful, shares views on top issues in New Hampshire town hall event," June 23, 2023
- ↑ Vermont Biz, "Ethan Allen Institute presents Robert F Kennedy, Jr, June 21," June 7, 2023
- ↑ NBC Boston, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to deliver speech in NH Tuesday," June 20, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Palihapitiya on June 16, 2023," accessed June 19, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.," JUne 7, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- ↑ CNN, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasizes the importance of a democratic election and hits DNC in speech to New Hampshire Senate," June 1, 2023
- ↑ CBS 8, "Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes campaign stop in San Diego," May 29, 2023
- ↑ Bitcoin Magazine, "ROBERT KENNEDY JR. MAKES CAMPAIGN DEBUT AT BITCOIN 2023: ‘FREE MONEY IS AS IMPORTANT AS FREE EXPRESSION’," May 19, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on May 18, 2023," accessed May 19, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on May 11, 2023," accessed May 15, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Kennedy on May 9, 2023," accessed May 10, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Robert F. Kennedy on April 25, 2023," accessed April 25, 2023
- ↑ WBUR, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes to Boston to launch 2024 presidential bid," April 19, 2023
- ↑ CNN, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. files paperwork to run for president as a Democrat," April 5, 2023
- ↑ 118.0 118.1 Kennedy's campaign website, "Kennedy to Appeal Partisan Ruling in New York Ballot Access Residency Case," August 12, 2024
- ↑ Associated Press, "Judge rules against RFK Jr. in fight to be on New York’s ballot, says he is not a state resident," August 12, 2024
- ↑ CBS News, "RFK Jr. disqualified from New York ballot over false residence claim, judge rules," August 13, 2024
- ↑ PBS, "What to know about the ruling that bounced RFK Jr. from the New York ballot," August 14, 2024
- ↑ The Hill, "RFK Jr. asks Supreme Court to restore him on New York ballot," September 23, 2024
- ↑ The New York Times, "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Won’t Be on New York Ballot, Supreme Court Rules," September 27, 2024
