RFK Jr – live: Musk reveals Twitter revenue down by half as he hosts anti-vax 2024 White House hopeful

Robert F Kennedy Jr has long-held, and promoted, anti-vaccine beliefs

Robert F Kennedy Jr launches 2024 campaign

Democrat presidential candidate and notable anti-vaccine advocate Robert F Kennedy Jr joined Elon Musk and David Sacks on Twitter Spaces on Monday 5 June to discuss the former’s bid for the White House.

Mr Kennedy was also  joined by Tulsi Gabbard, Balaji Srinivasan, Omeed Malik, Michael Shellenberger and Kelly Slater at the event.

The Twitter Spaces event comes just weeks after Mr Musk and Mr Sacks hosted and moderated a similar audio listening event with presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, where he launched his own campaign.

Notably, the Spaces session was filled with technological glitches, which Mr Sacks attributed to a high volume of listeners.

Following the event, Mr Musk welcomed all candidates onto Twitter and said he would be open to hosting other candidates on Twitter Spaces.

But some were unhappy with Mr Musk’s decision to host Mr Kennedy as he has been previously banned from social platforms for spreading misinformation.

Key Points

• Elon Musk hosts Twitter Spaces with Robert F Kennedy Jr
• Jack Dorsey endorses Robert F Kennedy Jr for president
• Elon Musk criticised for hosting RFK Jr
• RFK Jr calls traditional media organisations “propaganda vessels”
• Twitter users mock RFK Jr and Elon Musk’s ‘love fest’ Spaces event

[6 June 2023 05:00 · Ariana Baio]

Instagram reinstates Robert F Kennedy Jr

Instagram reinstated the personal account of Robert F Kennedy Jr on Sunday 4 June, just one day ahead of his planned Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk.

Mr Kennedy’s personal account was banned in 2021 after he continuously posted misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines on his Instagram account.

But due to his recent bid for president, Mr Kennedy’s account has been reinstated.

“As he is now an active candidate for president of the United States, we have restored access to Robert F Kennedy, Jr’s, Instagram account,” a spokesperson for Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Check out The Independent’s previous reporting on this:

[6 June 2023 06:00 · Ariana Baio]

ICYMI: Elon Musk hosts Twitter Spaces with Robert F Kennedy Jr

Elon Musk hosted a Twitter Spaces event with 2024 presidential candidate, and outspoken anti-vaccine advocate, Robert F Kennedy Jr- just weeks after Ron DeSantis launched his campaign using the feature.

Mr Kennedy is set to speak with Mr Musk and David Sacks on 5 June at 2pm EST in an event poised to be similar to Mr DeSantis’.

Ariana Baio reports:

[6 June 2023 07:00 · Ariana Baio]

Jack Dorsey endorses Robert F Kennedy Jr for president

Jack Dorsey has officially endorsed anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr for president.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports:

[6 June 2023 08:00 · Ariana Baio]

RFK Jr calls traditional media organisations “propaganda vessels”

Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr accused traditional media organisations of being “propaganda vessels” of the government and large corporations in the United States.

During Monday’s Twitter Spaces event, host Elon Musk said the: “Legacy of traditional media is also entirely, with some exceptions, working in lockstep with the government and with corporate America it is really their obligation to question the government, not go along with it and be their mouthpiece.”

Mr Kennedy, a Democrat candidate, agreed with Mr Musk and said, “They’ve become propaganda vessels”.

[6 June 2023 09:00 · Ariana Baio]

RFK Jr blames President Biden for steering Democrats toward war

Mr Kennedy reflected on the Democrat party of his father, Robert F Kennedy, and uncle, John F Kennedy, and said he blames President Joe Biden for steering Democrats toward war.

“I attribute that directly to President Biden,” Mr Kennedy said calling Democrats “pro-war.”

The 2024 presidential candidate said he liked Mr Biden but found he had a “pugnacious” approach to foreign politics.

He accused Mr Biden of believing, “Violence is a legitimate political tool to achieving America’s objects abroad.”

[6 June 2023 10:00 · Ariana Baio]

RFK Jr believes the US needs to seal the border

When speaking about immigration, 2024 candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr said he believes the US needs to, “seal our border” during Monday’s Twitter Spaces event.

Mr Kennedy said that the US should focus on taking care of Americans who cannot afford to live before taking on those seeking asylum.

Though, he acknowledged that many people seeking asylum in the US from Central and South America are doing so as a direct result of, “bad US politics in the South.”

Mr Kennedy said he planned to go to the US-Mexico border on Monday night to meet with people “on both sides.”

[6 June 2023 11:00 · Ariana Baio]

RFK Jr says Instagram misinformation ban had nothing to do with ‘factual accuracy'

During his two-hour-long Twitter Spaces chat, Mr Kennedy told people that his ban from Instagram had “nothing to do with... factual accuracy” despite his circulating of misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines.

[6 June 2023 12:00 · Ariana Baio]

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s voice disorder: spasmodic dysphonia

Presidential candidate and anti-vaccine advocate Robert F Kennedy Jr told O, the Oprah Magazine, in 2007 that he has spasmodic dysphonia, a medical condition that causes his voice to tremble.

The condition is a voice disorder that causes involuntary spasms in the muscles of the voice box. As a result, Mr Kennedy’s voice can break or sound strained.

Spasmodic dysphonia is a life-long condition but does not affect life expectancy.

“The disease didn’t hit me until I was about 43,” Mr Kennedy told O. “I used to have a strong voice,”

“It began as a mild tremble for a couple of years. After people would hear me speak, I’d get all these letters, almost always from women: “I saw you on TV and you were crying—it was so good seeing a man share his feelings!” I’d think, Oh God. I knew for every woman who wrote, there were ten men saying, “Look at this friggin’ crybaby!” Mr Kennedy said in 2007.

[6 June 2023 14:00 · Ariana Baio]

RFK Jr heaps praise on Elon Musk saying he is ‘rescuing American Democracy’ during Twitter event

“I just want to tell you how much I admire you for that and how grateful I am on behalf of my country,” Robert F Kennedy Jr said to Elon Musk during his Twitter Spaces event.

“You would come here from another country and be a key instrument for rescuing American democracy and freedom of speech.”

Eric Garcia reports: