GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a campaign stop in Grand Rapids Saturday afternoon, as he continues his push to get on the ballot as an independent presidential candidate.
“This is a job that requires a lot of complexity, a lot of nuance, a lot of very, very difficult decisions,” Kennedy said.
The campaign event, held at St. Cecilia Music Center, drew hundreds of supporters.
RFK Jr. is running to “end the forever wars, clean up government, increase wealth for all and tell Americans the truth,” according to his campaign website.
During his speech Saturday, Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and activist, cited rising rates of obesity, diabetes and autism since his uncle, John F. Kennedy, served as president in the 1960s.
“We’re the sickest people on the face of the earth. We’re the sickest people in the history of the world from chronic disease,” RFK Jr. claimed. “Shouldn’t we be asking the question, ‘What’s causing it?’”
Kennedy has long been accused of being a conspiracy theorist – specifically for his theories on how cellphone radiation, along with ingredients in pesticides, herbicides and our food, can cause serious health problems, including cancer.
“75 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Americans did not suddenly get lazy. We are being mass poisoned. It’s not willpower, it’s not, you know, we’re being poisoned, and, you know, we’re being told to blame ourselves,” RFK Jr. told the crowd.
But he says he has won several cases based on his so-called “conspiracy theories.”
“A conspiracy theory is just something the government doesn’t want you to hear and doesn’t want you to think about,” RFK Jr. said. “We’ve out won three jury trials and, you know, gone up to the Court of Appeals and they all agreed that conspiracy theory was actually real.”
Saturday’s rally comes one day after the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission.
The complaint accuses collusion between RFK Jr.’s campaign and the super PAC supporting him.
Super PAC American Values 2024 announced in December it would invest millions of dollars in ballot access to get RFK Jr. on the ballot in ten states.
However, the FEC complaint alleges the super PAC is coordinating, “its activity with Mr. Kennedy and his campaign in a way that violates federal campaign finance laws.”
READ MORE: DNC files complaint, says RFK Jr. and super PAC work too closely
Kennedy openly denied these claims.
“They said that we were secretly colluding, but the evidence with the, with a super PAC, that my campaign was secretly colluding with this super PAC – the voter application that they’re offering as evidence is on our website, so there clearly is no secret this is another effort by the DNC to avoid an election and try to remove people, candidates – opposing President Biden – from the ballot using the legal system,” he said.
Volunteers at the event were collecting petition signatures to get RFK Jr. on Michigan’s ballot.
Each state has its own minimum signature requirements and windows for obtaining those signatures.
In Michigan, he needs 12,000 signatures by July 18 in order to obtain ballot access, according to his website.
It’s a push he believes the Democratic party is trying to bring to a halt.
“I think that they [have] a candidate who doesn’t want to debate – and so, they have to try to win the election by litigating against people, by trying to get people off the ballot, by denying the ballot access by litigating against the other candidates to get them disqualified – so we won’t have to do democracy in our country,” Kennedy said. “I want the American people to decide who they want to be, have as president, and I want to be fair and square, on a level playing field.”
Following the campaign rally in Grand Rapids, RFK Jr. headed to the east side of the state for a private reception in Livonia.
The 2024 Presidential Election is November 5.
