Post

Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. built his public profile during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he's Trump's pick for HHS Secretary. Here is my 2021 investigation on how RFK Jr became the most prominent anti-vaccine activist in the world -->

Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak@alikodjak.bsky.social

More great investigative reporting from before on the people gaining power now. apnews.com/article/how-...

apnews.comHow a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strode onto the stage at a Southern California church, radiating Kennedy confidence and surveying the standing ovation crowd with his piercing blue Bobby ...

11 reposts33 likes

Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com

RFK Jr. has worked closely with Ty and Charlene Bollinger, who make video series with dubious and false information about vaccines and other topics. We reported on how Kennedy was in an affiliate marketing relationship with them, and was once listed as No. 4 on their “Overall Sales Leaderboard”

apnews.comInside one network cashing in on vaccine disinformationThe couple in the website videos could be hawking any number of products. “You’re going to love owning the platinum package,” Charlene Bollinger tells viewers, as a picture of a DVD set, booklets and ...
Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com

RFK Jr has aligned himself with special interests who profit by slicing off a small bit of the larger health care market by spreading false or dubious information. We found a chiropractic group gave $500,000 to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group, 1/6 of its fundraising that year apnews.com/article/anti...

apnews.comAnti-vaccine chiropractors rising force of misinformationAn investigation by The Associated Press has found that a vocal group of chiropractors has become an influential force in stirring up anti-vaccine misinformation during the pandemic.
Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com

His group co-published a book with the false premise that deaths of young people are spiking due to COVID-19 vaccines. AP found dozens of people in it died of known causes unrelated to vaccines, including suicide, choking, overdose and allergic reaction. One died in 2019. apnews.com/article/rfk-...

apnews.comRFK Jr. spent years stoking fear and mistrust of vaccines. These people were hurt by his workThe book, called “Cause Unknown,” was co-published by an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now running for president.
Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com

Kennedy played a key role in legitimizing anti-vaccine activism in Samoa. Later that year, there was a big measles outbreak. One of the people who worked on the Samoa response told me of Kennedy: "He came in and he left. ... And other people picked up the pieces” apnews.com/article/rfk-...

apnews.comRFK Jr. spent years stoking fear and mistrust of vaccines. These people were hurt by his workThe book, called “Cause Unknown,” was co-published by an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now running for president.