— Patrick Kennedy, referring to the public launch of cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy threw cold water Thursday on his cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s longshot presidential bid, as the ex-congressman referred to “debunked claims that are out there about vaccines.”
Patrick Kennedy added that the Kennedy family has focused on “tackling intellectual and developmental disabilities,” noting that an arm of the National Institutes of Health that targets children’s health and human development is named after his aunt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver. “I only wish we spent half the time arguing about the corruption in government and corporate America that is represented by the power of the marijuana industry as we do the power of the vaccine industry,” he added.
“My father was the leading opponent of the tobacco industry, with people like Henry Waxman,” he said. “Democrats used to be on the side of public health in taking on the corporate greed of Big Tobacco. I want to say today, unfortunately, it’s become an article of faith of the Democrats to be for commercialization of marijuana, and that saddens me.”