Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got emotional when speaking about the impact of vaccine injuries.
The nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, and son of former Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy Sr. has long been known as an anti-vaxxer before the COVID-19 vaccine existed.
RFK Jr. teared up during a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast when he said he had friends whose children had adverse reactions to vaccines, otherwise known as vaccine injuries.
"I look at some of my friends that I've made over time, who have children who are affected children who, you know, were perfectly healthy kids, who exceeded all their milestones. They lost everything," RFK Jr. said.
"They'll never, you know, hold a job. They'll never pay taxes. Never write a poem. They'll never throw a baseball. They'll never go out on date with a girl or a boy. And they'll never serve in the military," he added. "You know their lives are so constricted, and the parents' lives are also shattered."
RFK Jr., who entered the race for the 2024 Democratic nomination this year, added that life became tough for the parents he knows because some of the children have "severe anger" issues or other sensitivities.
"The parents can't go out, they can't get a babysitter to take care of that child... A lot of them give up their jobs," RFK Jr. said. "And I'm lucky that, you know, I don't have to fight that battle because I don't know about what I would. I don't know if I could take it."
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that "vaccines are actually very safe" and "most vaccine adverse events are minor and temporary, such as a sore arm or mild fever."
"More serious adverse events occur rarely (on the order of one per thousands to one per millions of doses), and some are so rare that risk cannot be accurately assessed. As for vaccines causing death, again so few deaths can plausibly be attributed to vaccines that it is hard to assess the risk statistically," WHO says on its website.
RFK Jr. was named in the 2021 Center for Countering Digital Hate's "Disinformation Dozen". He was one of only 12 people the organization believed were responsible for spreading the bulk of falsehoods about COVID-19 and vaccines.
RFK Jr.'s comments come just months after the Biden administration allocated $15 million for administrative expenses for the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) Trust Fund as part of its $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill in December.
The Trust Fund provides funding for the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. This was created to "compensate vaccine-related injury or death petitions for covered vaccines administered on or after October 1, 1988," according to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).
VICP does not cover COVID-19 vaccinations because they are covered under the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP).
During the same episode of Rogan's podcast, RFK Jr. said he has "taken precautions" to stop him being assassinated by the CIA.
Both his uncle and father were assassinated, but there is no evidence to suggest the CIA played a role in their murders.
RFK Jr. told Rogan he believed President Kennedy was killed by the CIA and the "military industrial complex" for wanting to withdraw troops from Vietnam.
The podcast host then asked RFK Jr. that, if he won the 2024 presidential election, would he be worried about his safety.
"Well, I've gotta be careful," RFK Jr. said. "I'm aware of that [possibility]. You know, I'm aware of that danger and I don't live in fear of it at all. But I'm not stupid about it and I take precautions."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
