Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2024, jumping in as a Democrat, multiple news outlets are reporting.
The filing by Kennedy, 69, who has gained headlines in recent years for anti-vaccine views, was confirmed Wednesday by his campaign treasurer, John E. Sullivan, said CNN.
Kennedy is also widely known as the son of former New York senator, nationwide attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. And he is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who also died at an assassin's hand in 1963.
Kennedy Jr. is, several outlets noted, a longtime vaccine skeptic. He has promoted oft-disputed and hotly debated links between vaccines and autism, and is founder of the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense. During the pandemic, he spoke out against government handling of COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccines.
As reported by CNN, three members of his own family — sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, brother Joseph P. Kennedy II, and niece Maeve Kennedy McKean — strongly denounced his vaccine views via an op-ed posted by Politico.
President Joe Biden, also a Democrat, has strongly suggested he will seek reelection in the 2024 race despite his age. But he has not made a run official.