Robert F. 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).

Known For

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Real Time with Bill Maher

Frontline

The Mike Douglas Show

The Colbert Report

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Velshi

All Movies (43)

• By Dawn's Early Light2026 · as Self
• The Rise of RFK Jr.2025 · as Self (archival footage)
• RFK: Legacy2025 · as Self
• Confessions of a CEO: My Life in an Out-of-Balance World2025 · as Self
• Biohack Yourself: Lifespanning Our Vitality2024 · as Self
• Trump's Big FUSS: Fight for US Sovereignty2024 · as Self (archive footage)
• Trump vs. Kamala: Race for the White House2024 · as Self (archive footage)
• First Do No Pharm2024 · as Self
• God Bless Bitcoin2024 · as Self
• INactive, Americaʼs Silent Killer2024 · as Self
• The Trust Fall: Julian Assange2024 · as Self
• The Real Anthony Fauci2022 · as Self - Environmental Lawyer, Author of 'The Real Anthony Fauci'
• Virulent: The Vaccine War2022 · as Self - Attorney
• Shots: Eugenics to Pandemics2022 · as Self
• Covidland: The Shot2022 · as Self
• JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass2021 · as Self
• Dis/Informed2021 · as Self (archive footage)
• Silenced, As Mercury Rises2021 · as Self
• The Anti-Vax Conspiracy2021 · as Self (archive footage)
• 1986: The ACT2020 · as Self
• A Better Way2020
• Killing John F. Kennedy2020 · as Self (archive footage)
• Vaxxed II: The People's Truth2020 · as Self
• Mandate for Choice2019 · as Himself
• Poisoning Paradise2017
• The Best Democracy Money Can Buy2016 · as Self
• Good Fortune2016 · as Self
• Climate Hustle2016 · as Self
• DARK SIDE of the GREENS2015 · as Self
• A Dangerous Game2014 · as Self
• Food Chains2014
• JFK: The Private President2013 · as Self
• The Last Mountain2011 · as Self
• Smash His Camera2010 · as Self
• The Vaccine War2010 · as Self
• Dominick Dunne: After the Party2008 · as Self (archive footage)
• One Water2008 · as Self
• Al Franken: God Spoke2006 · as Self
• Earth to America2005 · as Self
• Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable2004 · as Self
• The Waterkeepers2000 · as Himself
• Plague of Corruption: 80 Years of Pharmaceutical Corruption Exposed— · as Self
• One Planet— · as Self

All TV Shows (17)

• The Donald Trump Show2025 · as Self (archive footage)
• My View with Lara Trump2025 · as Self - Guest
• The Tucker Carlson Show2024 · as Self
• TheWeekend2024 · as Self (archive footage)
• JFK: Destiny Betrayed2021 · as Self
• Tucker Carlson Today2021 · as Self - Guest
• The Alec Baldwin Show2018 · as Self
• American Dynasties: The Kennedys2018 · as Self
• Velshi2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver2014 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Overheard with Evan Smith2010 · as Self
• The Colbert Report2005 · as Self - Guest
• Real Time with Bill Maher2003 · as Self - Guest
• Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• Frontline1983 · as Self (archive)
• The Mike Douglas Show1961 · as Self