Anti-vaccine presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. coming to Arizona
Independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent critic of vaccines of all types, is planning a visit to Arizona on Dec. 20, according to his campaign.
The event is planned from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Legends Event Center near 42nd Avenue and Camelback Road.
Kennedy is attempting to gather signatures to appear on the Arizona ballot.
With former President Donald Trump expected to win the Republican nomination to run against President Joe Biden in next year's presidential election, Kennedy Jr. is widely seen as a spoiler, with little chance of winning the race but possibly tipping it toward Trump, particularly in swing states.
Kennedy Jr. initially planned to run for president as a Democrat but shifted to independent in October.
Kennedy Jr.'s long history of false claims about vaccines warranted a three-part fact-checking series from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year.
The report notes his anti-vaccine campaign began in 2005 when he published a story in Rolling Stone and on Salon.com falsely suggesting vaccines cause autism. Salon retracted the story and Rolling Stone deleted it.
Who is Robert Kennedy Jr.? How is he related to JFK?
Kennedy's family is well-known in politics. His uncle John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States. Robert Kennedy Jr.'s father served as U.S. attorney general when his brother, serving at the time as president, appointed him to the job. Robert Kennedy also served as a U.S. senator from New York and was a presidential candidate in 1968, when he was assassinated in Los Angeles.
What does Kennedy Jr. need to do to get on the ballot?
As an Independent not affiliated with a major political party, Kennedy Jr. could skip Arizona's Presidential Preference Election on March 19 and proceed to the Nov. 5 general election.
To get on the ballot, he not only will need to name a running mate and 11 electors, but gather signatures. Arizona requires such candidates get signatures from 3% of registered voters as of Jan. 2.
While that number is not yet known, as of the last count in October, Arizona had about 4.2 million registered voters, meaning Kennedy Jr. would need to gather about 126,000 signatures to get on the ballot.