Environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2024 as a Democrat.
The filing was confirmed Wednesday by his campaign treasurer, John E. Sullivan.
The 69-year-old is the son of former New York senator, US attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of the late President .
Kennedy Jr. is a longtime vaccine skeptic. He has promoted discredited claims linking vaccines and autism and founded the anti-vaccine organization Children's Health Defense. He has also railed against the coronavirus vaccine and has criticized the federal government's handling of the pandemic.
In 2019, -- his sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, brother Joseph P. Kennedy II and niece Maeve Kennedy McKean -- forcefully denounced his anti-vaccine views in a , arguing that he was "part of a misinformation campaign that's having heartbreaking -- and deadly -- consequences."
In 2022, Kennedy Jr. in an anti-vaccine speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The previous year, Instagram "for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines."
Kennedy had that he was considering a presidential run.
"If it looks like I can raise the money and mobilize enough people to win, I'll jump in the race," he said.
His tweet also pointed supporters to his website: "Let Bobby know you want to see his leadership in the White House," the site says while asking for donations.
As an environmental lawyer, Kennedy worked with a group that led the Hudson River cleanup. He also worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council and co-founded an environmental law firm.
Should he go through with his presidential bid, Kennedy would be the latest in a long line of family members to enter politics.
His served as the lieutenant governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. His brother Joseph was a congressman from Massachusetts from 1987 to 1999. And more recently, his brother Chris Kennedy was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Illinois in 2018.
The last Kennedy to hold elected office was his nephew former Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who in 2020. (He is now the for Northern Ireland.) Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former President Kennedy, is currently the US .
The 2024 Democratic presidential race is only beginning to take shape, with expected to announce . Author Marianne Williamson for the Democratic presidential nomination last month.
On the Republican side, former jump-started the race for the party nomination, for the White House last year. Former United Nations Ambassador , former Arkansas Gov. and entrepreneur are also in the race, while other well-known contenders, including Florida Gov. and former Vice President , are weighing bids of their own.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
� & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
