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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Acting

Born January 17, 1954 · Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Also known as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. · Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.

Biography

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. (born January 17, 1954), also known by his initials RFK Jr., is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist serving as the 26th United States secretary of health and human services since 2025. A member of the Kennedy family, he is a son of senator and former U.S. attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy began his career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits focused on environmental protection: Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In 1986, he became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law, and in 1987 he founded Pace's Environmental Litigation Clinic. In 1999, Kennedy founded the nonprofit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance. He first ran as a Democrat and later started an independent campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election, before withdrawing from the race and endorsing Republican nominee Donald Trump. Since 2005, Kennedy has promoted vaccine misinformation and public-health conspiracy theories, including the chemtrail conspiracy theory, HIV/AIDS denialism, and the scientifically disproved claim of a causal link between vaccines and autism. He has drawn criticism for fueling vaccine hesitancy amid a social climate that gave rise to the deadly measles outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga. Kennedy is the founder and former chairman of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group and proponent of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. He has written books including The Riverkeepers (1997), Crimes Against Nature (2004), The Real Anthony Fauci (2021), and A Letter to Liberals (2022).

Awards & recognition

  • Time 100 · 2025
  • American Book Awards · 2005

Filmography33 titles

God Bless Bitcoin

2024as Self

A Better Way

2020

The Last Mountain

2011as Self

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

2014as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Dominick Dunne: After the Party

2008as Self (archive footage)

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

2016as Self

JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass

2021as Self

Poisoning Paradise

2017

Food Chains

2014

Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable

2004as Self

Smash His Camera

2010as Self

The Colbert Report

2005as Self

JFK: Destiny Betrayed

as Self

Frontline

1983as Self (archive)

Frontline

as Self (archive)

A Dangerous Game

2014as Self

The Daily Show

1996as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

American Dynasties: The Kennedys

as Self

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Trump VS Kamala: Race for the Whitehouse

2024as Self (archive footage)

The Trust Fall: Julian Assange

2024as Self

Killing John F. Kennedy

2020as Self (archive footage)

Real Time with Bill Maher

2003as Self - Guest

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Biohack Yourself: Lifespanning Our Vitality

2024as Self

Late Night with Seth Meyers

2014as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Climate Hustle

2016as Self

RFK: Legacy

2025as Self

My View with Lara Trump

as Self - Guest

The Alec Baldwin Show

as Self

Confessions of a CEO: My Life in an Out-of-Balance World

2025as Self

The Rise of RFK Jr.

2025as Self (archival footage)

Shots: Eugenics to Pandemics

2022as Self