Robert F. Kennedy Jr., often referred to as RFK Jr., is a prominent American environmental lawyer, activist, and member of the famous Kennedy political family
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. Born on January 17, 1954, in Washington, D.C., he is the third of eleven children of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy
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. His father was a U.S. attorney general and senator, and his uncle, John F. Kennedy, was the 35th President of the United States
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Kennedy Jr. began his career as an assistant district attorney in New York City but soon shifted his focus to environmental law
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. In the mid-1980s, he joined two nonprofits, Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), dedicated to environmental protection
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. He later founded the Waterkeeper Alliance in 1999, a global network of environmental organizations
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Despite his early successes in environmental advocacy, Kennedy Jr. is perhaps best known for his controversial stance on vaccines
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. Since 2005, he has been a vocal critic of vaccines, promoting misinformation about their safety and efficacy
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. He has claimed, without scientific evidence, that vaccines cause autism and other health issues
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. This stance has led him to become a leading figure among vaccine skeptics and the chairman of the anti-vaccine advocacy group Children’s Health Defense
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Kennedy Jr.’s views on vaccines have drawn significant criticism from the scientific community and public health experts
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. His claims have been debunked, and the preservative he bases his arguments on has not been used in childhood vaccines since 2001
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. Despite this, he continues to advocate against vaccines, often questioning the safety and necessity of vaccination programs
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In addition to his work on vaccines, Kennedy Jr. has written several books, including “The Riverkeepers” (1997), “Crimes Against Nature” (2004), “The Real Anthony Fauci” (2021), and “A Letter to Liberals” (2022)
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. His political career also saw him run as an independent candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, although he later withdrew and endorsed the Republican nominee, Donald Trump
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. Following Trump’s victory, Kennedy Jr. was appointed as the presumptive nominee for United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in Trump’s second cabinet
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