#RFK2FAFN: Frequently Asserted False Narratives about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and How To Defeat Them.
RFK Jr. may be exactly what America needs to work at this time, so the powers who benefit from current dysfunctionality and their sycophants are already on the attack. We need to expose their lies.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you,
then they fight you, then you win.” — Mahatma Gandhi
In my previous FAFN for Bernie, I listed the points raised against him without attribution, but this election cycle I intend to hold people accountable for their false narratives, so I’ll incorporate them by reference and go through them point by point. I’m beginning this article the day after RFK Jr’s announcement of his bid to run for President in 2024. Today is April 20, 2023.
The whole idea of a “Frequently Asserted False Narratives” FAFN page is that it’s meant to be a time-saving device for informing an inquisitive audience. Like the more well known “Frequently Asked Questions” FAQ genre, the idea is to save time responding to the same questions or narratives over and over by saving and re-using responses for the most common questions and narratives. The narratives are numbered so you can reference them in your social media tweets— “Look at this substack article, FAFN#4”, for example.
Of course, the big names in politics will avoid talking about RFK Jr. for as long as possible, following Gandhi’s outline. I don’t expect Biden or Harris or major network and cable talking heads to comment for a while. The first salvo of false narratives I’ll address, therefore, comes from a pop-Blue Twitter self-proclaimed “independent journalist” (who often does not cite sources) Brian Krassenstein:
FAFN #1: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promotes conspiracy theories.
This, by itself, is an unsubstantiated generalization. It is impossible to evaluate without knowing which quotes of RFK2 are being considered “conspiracy theories” (CTs), what the premises of the CTs are and what evidence, if any, refutes them. Generally, people employing this approach strenuously avoid specifics because specifics often turn out to support CT premises, on further examination.
The term “conspiracy theory” is now weaponized rhetoric that the Kennedy family ought to own the trademarks on (j/k), since it has been so widely abused to dismiss and deflect legitimate criticisms of the Warren Commission’s conclusions about the murder of JFK.
Lance deHaven-Smith’s “Conspiracy Theory In America”1 presents an excellent history and context of the term and how it became a pejorative in the aftermath of the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations of the 1960’s.
For those who aren’t yet aware that the three big assassinations of the 1960’s were, in fact, conspiracies, the following reading list is de rigueur:
“JFK and the Unspeakable: Why he died and Why it matters” by James W. Douglass2
“A Lie Too Big to Fail” by Lisa Pease3
“An Act of State” by William Pepper4
In summary, what makes the statement that “RFK Jr. promotes conspiracy theories” false are the pejorative negative connotations of the term “conspiracy theory”— the assumption that they are anything other than inconvenient truths and alternative explanations worthy of just as much careful consideration and investigation as the official explanations offered.
When someone uses the term “conspiracy theory”, it’s best to stop them and ask for details:
What is the claim that they’re labeling as a CT?
What are the premises the “CT” is based on?
What evidence, if any, disproves the “CT”?
But possibly the best answer, I’m thinking, to those who would call Kennedy a “Conspiracy Theorist” would be, to borrow the cadence from Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”— I mean, I mean, I mean I’m sittin’ here on the group W bench with the mother-stabbers and father-rapers and they killed my Dad and my uncle when I was a kid, and you got a lot of damn gall to ask me if I’m a “conspiracy theorist”! Would you ask Eddie Van Halen if he’s a “guitar theorist” or Michael Jordan if he’s a “basketball theorist”? I know, let’s critique Shakespeare’s Hamlet framing the “To be or not to be” Prince as just another whining millennial who can’t get over the fact that his prospects aren’t as good as his parents’ were and he just needs to get over it! Point being: Never trivialize lived experience. Something like that.
FAFN #2 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that COVID and other vaccines cause an abundance of harm.
At the time of this writing (4/21/23, 8:55am PDT), Brian Krassenstein hasn’t yet seen fit to include references to RFK Jr’s actual words on COVID and vaccines in his article “Robert F. Kennedy Is A Danger to This Country”5. Most of RFK Jr’s actual genuine statements about vaccines are nuanced and carefully stated to match up with the fact-checking he and his team have done. I’d submit that Brian Krassenstein’s stock as an “independent investigative reporter” would go up if such quotes and references were included in his writing. But what do I know? He’s the one with 700K followers.
Nonetheless, the point that RFK Jr is a well-known critic of COVID policy is certainly worth addressing.
It is important to note that RFK Jr’s main COVID vaccine-related theme is that safe and effective, low-cost, early treatment alternative drugs exist and should be much more widely used instead of relying on fast-tracked new and expensive jabs.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s “The Real Anthony Fauci”6 is an excellent expose’ of deeply corrupted science and public health institutions that have succumbed to the influence of money— pushing expensive, new, patented drugs while suppressing science that shows low-cost, old, generic drugs could save millions of lives.
I’ve previously covered the more nuanced criticism of COVID vaccination-related policy in my previous substack article "Elon Musk Calls For Prosecution of Fauci"7
Most people have no trouble grasping that politicians are typically corrupted by donor contributions and that the media are typically corrupted by advertising dollars, but they do have serious difficulty grasping that science and academia, as they are practiced today, are subject to the same pressures, twisting and corruption.
In "Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science"8, David H. Freedman does an excellent job introducing the lay-reader to the problems of funding and bias in medical research, as studied by medical "meta-researcher" John Ioannidis. Understanding this "problem of reproducibility" or "problem of replication" is crucial to evaluating new research. This is the backdrop against which the COVID and vaccine debates must be properly considered: The current status of medical research is woefully unreliable and manipulated by research funding sources.
It is also true that Kennedy has criticized vaccines prior to the current COVID shots, however, his criticism has focused almost exclusively on the use of toxic adjuvants such as thimerosal (which contains mercury) in childrens’ vaccines and flu shots. Saying RFK Jr wants to “green the vaccines” is a far more accurate representation of his position on vaccination that calling him an “anti-vaxxer”.
FAFN #3 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that Bill Gates has a hidden agenda related to vaccines and population control.
If it were truly a hidden agenda, then nobody would be able say anything definitive about it, but the fact is that Gates’s agenda with regard to vaccines and population “control” isn’t really a secret. Yes, he funds vaccine research with billions from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Yes, he is concerned about overpopulation in Africa, among other places. Krassenstein’s implication, however, is that RFK Jr is alleging something more nefarious, but since, again, Krassenstein is not supporting his assertion with any cited quotes or sources, it’s impossible to evaluate this criticism.
FAFN #4 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that the World Trade Center towers may have been brought down by controlled demolition.
If Kennedy said that (source), he is not wrong. The towers may have been brought down by controlled demolition. Thousands of Architects and Engineers who design buildings agree with this assessment.9 For those of us who've studied the issue and looked at the evidence, this is no longer a very controversial claim. I think it's more controversial to act like people who recognize the probable use of controlled demolition are "nuts" who shouldn't be allowed to participate in public discourse on the subject.
Again, as Kennedy observed in his announcement speech (4/19/23)10, the government often does lie as a matter of official policy and, when they do, they are also forced to label contradictory information as “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories”. America is not going to get better or transcend the current polarization until we, as a nation, deal with official lies and shine a light on official misinformation. Was 9/11 an example of such government lies? We may never know exactly how or why 9/11 happened, but we do know it didn’t happen the way the government’s official explanations say it did. There are too many holes in the official narrative.
FAFN #5 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that the government is engaged in a secret program to spray chemicals from airplanes.
Yes, it’s true that RFK Jr. says this. And it is true that the secret program exists and has been operational for many years.
FAFN #6 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. compared COVID vaccination mandates to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.
Kennedy’s January 23, 2022 speech at the Lincoln Memorial provides the needed context.
The CNN article Kennedy references is here.
Some of the FAFNs don’t really require attribution because the authors are clearly just repeating talking points they’ve copied from somewhere else (usually unattributed). Here are a few:
FAFN #7 I’d like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. better if only he could see through the climate change hoax with the same hard-nosed skepticism he’s been able to see through the vaccine hoax with. (This one is heard most often at the grass roots level among Republicans and conservatives)
We would all wish to be right about every issue and we’d like the people we might choose to represent us in government to agree with us about as much as possible, but we are also human beings and we are also fallible.
In the same way that many folks’ perceptions about vaccines have been manipulated by big pharma money and the agencies they’ve corrupted, so, too, are many folks’ perceptions about climate change manipulated by the biggest of big money special interests out there. I’m not talking about the U.N. and agenda 21. I’m talking about big oil industry interests that fund many of the “think-tanks” that spread doubt and uncertainty about anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming.
Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway’s book (and documentary by the same name) “Merchants of Doubt”11 provides an excellent overview of the mechanisms by which industries hire “scientists” to pose as trusted, objective experts about everything from cigarettes and flame retardants to, you guessed it, global warming, aka climate change.
Yes, there is plenty of room to debate HOW public policy should be changed to address climate change, and I expect Kennedy’s proposals will respect freedom and constitutional rights far better than most blue-dog Democrats’ proposals have so far, but, the time for denying the reality of climate change is over.
If, like me, you like to actually see something to believe it, the documentary “Chasing Ice”12 featuring James Balog is excellent. As a nature photographer, he’s captured stunning photos and videos of melting and collapsing glaciers— some of the best indicators of year-on-year climate change acceleration available anywhere.
There are many popular FAFNs (Frequently Asserted False Narratives) about global warming— far too many to rebut here— however, there is an excellent website called SkepticalScience.com that has scientific rebuttals and refutations of over 190 popular anti climate-change talking points.13
FAFN #8 Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s own family says they won’t vote for him because he’s an anti-vaxxer.14
It is simply bad journalistic form to make fun of a candidate’s less-intelligent family members. The candidate is a public figure and, therefore, fair game. The family members are usually not, but in any case, ad hominem, with one degree of separation, is still ad hominem. Debate the vaccines. Debate COVID policy. Just don’t try to score points driving wedges between family members.
FAFN #9 Steve Bannon recruited Kennedy to run to bring chaos to the Democratic primary.
Now THAT is a conspiracy theory. And we should approach it by asking for evidence of collusion and when they can’t deliver evidence a “cease and desist” letter would be appropriate.
FAFN #10 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not a real Democrat.
Of all the candidates running in the Democratic primary, Kennedy most closely exemplifies the best ideals of the Democratic party as they were expressed by the Presidents Roosevelt — Franklin Delano (FDR) and Theodore (“Teddy”). Unlike some other candidates, Kennedy can be completely trusted not to put Social Security or Medicare on the negotiating table for cuts. Many of us feel Kennedy represents the soul of the Democratic party — a party full of compassion for the less fortunate, an abiding desire for peace and prosperity in the world and a passion for justice in all aspects of life. Kennedy has done the Democratic party an enormous favor by running as a Democrat instead of running as an Independent or 3rd party candidate. He may also be giving the Democratic party its best chance to keep the White House in 2024.
And, yes, the above paragraph is cut-and-pasted from my 2020 FAFN page for Bernie, changing “Bernie” to “Kennedy” and 2020 to 2024 because if the DNC bosses don’t bother to update their playbook, why should we waste energy updating our refutations of their b.s.?
As much as some people want to paint Kennedy as a Republican because he could slow down an extremely weak incumbent and end up helping a Republican win in 2024, it must be stressed that Kennedy, like Bernie in 2020, is almost certainly going to poll stronger against Trump than Biden is, so, in reality, one could just as validly say that Biden is not a Democrat and that Biden is a Republican because he’s slowing down the best Democratic candidate: Kennedy and there’s even a possibility that Kennedy could lose against Trump if Biden doesn’t drop out of the race and endorse him ASAP— the only gentlemanly thing to do.
Seriously, stop trying to throw out the primary process. Pretending there’s only one presumed nominee from the outset is the third most anti-Democratic thing I’ve ever heard of. The second is the electoral college and, of course, number one is superdelegates, ahem!
Update Friday 28 April 2023: Disinformation in the legacy media has gone from a trickle to flood-stage in about a week. In that time, Kennedy’s polling has shot up from 14% to 19%. Things are starting to get interesting.
FAFN #11 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. opposes Trans women participating in women’s sports.
Technically, this is not a “false assertion” except implicitly, the false implication being that Kennedy is somehow biased against trans-women. Kennedy wants to be fair to everyone and he recognizes that the equal rights of women that gave rise to Title IX athletic programs we mostly take for granted today, could be seriously compromised by poorly designed accommodations for trans-women in athletic programs.
On April 29-30, 2023 one article appeared to dominate tweets about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “‘I Don’t Think It’s Fair’: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Voices Opposition to Transgenders in Women’s Sports” (from Breitbart). In my view, Kennedy’s biggest liability isn’t that he’s on the wrong side some issues, it’s that he is consistently willing to look at complex issues and, instead of oversimplifying to gain the support of liberals or conservatives, he follows his conscience into a more nuanced position.
Thus, he is not an anti-vaxxer. Rather, he is in favor of taking toxic ingredients like Mercury out of the vaccines. He’s for more comprehensive and more independent safety testing. He is not pro-Putin. Instead, he thinks Ukrainian lives should be spared. If Ukraine is being used as a pawn in a U.S. scheme to achieve regime change in Russia, and 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already died, perhaps it is worth considering a peace deal to avoid squandering further Ukrainian lives.
If you’re willing to look at the complexities of the issues relating to Trans-women participating in women’s sports, and some potential innovative solutions, I would suggest reading “A Fair And Inclusive Solution For Transgender Women In Sports” by Donna Lopiano in Forbes. Lopiano suggests distinguishing between trans-women who transitioned before puberty and trans-women to transitioned after (male) puberty. Both groups would be included in practice, travel and social events of the women’s teams, but competition and scoring would be separate for the post male-puberty transitioners. Some sports where the physical advantages of male puberty (bone density, lung capacity, weight, muscle mass) increase potential for injury, might need to be completely separate for trans athletes for safety considerations.
Kennedy’s messaging resists being dumbed down into typical left and right sound bite positions and that puts the campaign at a disadvantage. It will take longer to explain Kennedy’s case to the American people. It will require voters (and hopefully journalists as well) to up their game and be more sophisticated in their approach to evaluating the issues in 2024. Nonetheless, I’m convinced it will be worth the effort.
Update Sunday 07 May 2023: Polling has all but stopped in the Democratic primary race, with some polls starting to include “zombie” candidates to dilute Kennedy’s apparent popularity. More here.
FAFN #12 There was a sighting of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. standing with Michael Flynn, Charlene Bollinger and Roger Stone, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?
Kennedy has always been very open about his willingness to go to and speak at events, shows, podcasts and other platforms, no matter their supposed political affiliations— left-wing or right. His goal is to reach all Americans (and the larger world-wide public) and to speak the truth as he understands it.
When it comes to vaccines, you will have probably seen news stories calling Kennedy an “anti-vaxxer” and saying that Kennedy’s views have been “thoroughly debunked”. Neither of those things is true. Unfortunately, when Democrats failed to appreciate the risks of vaccines, some Republicans swooped in and claimed the issue as their own, so when Kennedy wants to get his messages about vaccines out to the public, he finds he’s generally more welcome at right-wing venues than Democratic ones presently. Sadly, this error on the Democratic party’s part has been a huge gift to Republicans and it’s an error Democrats don’t seem likely to correct anytime soon.
The group photo is often posted in social media without any explanation or context, leaving viewers to make their own assumptions about why these four were together long enough to take a still picture. Such assumptions tend to the conspiratorial, which is quite ironic considering how often the legacy media tries to paint Kennedy, and not his detractors, as conspiratorial. Kennedy simply gave a speech15 about Fauci and vaccines at a popular venue where his views were welcome.
19 JUN 2023 Update:
FAFN #13 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to jail climate deniers.
Jailing Climate Deniers » EcoWatch (archive.org)
FAFN #14 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said some racist thing about COVID-19 being a racially targeted bioweapon against Africans and Caucasians and sparing Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews.
This FAFN refers to a NY Post story: https://nypost.com/2023/07/15/rfk-jr-says-covid-was-ethnically-targeted-to-spare-jews/
In response to this story, Kennedy tweeted:
"The @nypost story is mistaken. I have never, ever suggested that the COVID-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews. I accurately pointed out — during an off-the-record conversation — that the U.S. and other governments are developing ethnically targeted bioweapons and that a 2021 study of the COVID-19 virus shows that COVID-19 appears to disproportionately affect certain races since the furin cleave docking site is most compatible with Blacks and Caucasians and least compatible with ethnic Chinese, Finns, and Ashkenazi Jews. In that sense, it serves as a kind of proof of concept for ethnically targeted bioweapons. I do not believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered. That study is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32664879/"
ref: RFK Jr’s 7/15/23 tweet: https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1680227322509635595
Check back and stay tuned! The smears, hit-pieces and other frequently-asserted false narratives (FAFNs) for the #Kennedy24 campaign have undoubtedly only just begun and I hop to document them here as the campaign season progresses. (mtb)
Skeptical Science, John Cook, et al
Thank you once again, Mr Bishop, for this excellent piece. I reposted it on my FaceBook page.
Keep 'em coming.
"He is not pro-Putin. Instead, he thinks Ukrainian lives should be spared. If Ukraine is being used as a pawn in a U.S. scheme to achieve regime change in Russia, and 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already died, perhaps it is worth considering a peace deal to avoid squandering further Ukrainian lives."
RKF Jr's oft-repeated claim that "300,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already died" is another blatant lie. He seems to have completely fabricated that number.