Jack Dorsey shares RFK Jr. video echoing conspiracy theories
Jack Dorsey, the head of Block Inc. and a co-founder of Twitter, posted two videos in the past week featuring presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has attracted criticism for his history of sharing unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about vaccines. Kennedy has also discussed conspiracy theories about the killing of then-President John F. Kennedy and about his father.
One post linked to a podcast interview from 2020 of Kennedy discussing numerous conspiracy theories with former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
On Tuesday, in a post on the social network Primal, which uses technology that he has helped fund, Dorsey shared a 2020 interview with Kennedy, in which he promoted the conspiracy theory that the CIA killed both his father, Robert F. Kennedy, and JFK and espoused unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about vaccines, including that potential vaccine side effects are part of a profit plan for the pharmaceutical industry.
The posts do not explicitly endorse Kennedy.
The posts come as social networks appear poised to play a major role in the 2024 election cycle. On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would announce his presidential primary bid on Twitter in an audio event with CEO Elon Musk, who has openly supported conservatives on the platform.
Shortly before the post sharing the interview, Dorsey shared a link to a speech from JFK. He later posted on Primal and Twitter, “Splinter the CIA, NSA, and FBI into a thousand pieces and scatter them into the winds,” along with an image of the assassinated president.
On May 6, Dorsey shared a link to Kennedy’s podcast on Bluesky, another app that uses technology backed by Dorsey.
Dorsey did not respond to requests for comment sent through email and direct messages.
In April, Kennedy announced his 2024 presidential bid as a Democratic candidate. April surveys from Emerson and Fox News found Kennedy’s support at 19% and 21% in the Democratic primary, trailing President Joe Biden substantially but garnering a significant base of support. Prominent members of his own family, however, are not supporting his bid.
Dorsey’s support would lend another notable name to Kennedy’s campaign. Dorsey has in the past supported other unconventional Democratic candidates, donating $5,600 to Tulsi Gabbard and $6,6000 to Andrew Yang in 2019, according to the campaign finance website Open Secrets.
Kennedy has found a warm reception among some far-right luminaries, including Steve Bannon, who briefly served as a top aide to former President Donald Trump and now hosts a prominent right-wing talk show, and Infowars host Alex Jones.
This week, ahead of Dorsey’s posts, Kennedy appeared as a keynote speaker at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami. Dorsey has been a major proponent of blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, and his companies or ventures he’s backed made numerous product announcements and appearances at the conference. Dorsey also shared numerous posts promoting the conference over the last week, including a video of Kennedy’s speech.
In 2019, Dorsey recorded a podcast with a media personality known for making anti-vaccine statements.
