Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday said he “won’t take sides” on the subject of the truth of the 9/11 attacks but would push for transparency if elected president.
Kennedy said in a post on X that the government “routinely” lying makes determining what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t difficult to determine but he would not favor one side on theories about 9/11.
“My take on 9/11: It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public. As President I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates,” Kennedy said. “But I can promise is that I will open the files and usher in a new era of transparency.”
The Hill has reached out to Kennedy’s campaign for clarification as to if he was referring to any specific theory surrounding the attack.
Kennedy, who initially gained prominence as an activist spreading misinformation about and questioning the efficacy of vaccines, has previously made controversial comments and leaned into conspiracy theories surrounding the terrorist attacks from 2001.
He said during a podcast interview in September that he doesn’t “know what happened on 9/11,” referencing a conspiracy theory surrounding World Trade Center Building 7, a smaller building in the complex that collapsed as a result of debris from the Twin Towers.
“I know there’s strange things that happened… One of the buildings came down that wasn’t hit by a plane,” Kennedy said.
“I don’t want to argue any theories about this because all I’ve heard is questions, I have no explanation, I have no knowledge of it, but what you’re repeating now I know not to be true,” he continued, responding to the interviewer’s pushback on the theory about Building 7.
Kennedy said at the time that he was not backing the theory about the building but didn’t necessarily believe the results of the federal government’s investigation into the attacks.
Kennedy has also made other controversial statements during the campaign. He was accused of antisemitism and racism after floating conspiracy theories linking Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has argued that “overwhelming” evidence exists that the CIA was involved in the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Many members of the Kennedy family have rejected his candidacy and policy views and declared their support for President Biden.
Kennedy is running as an alternative candidate trying to appeal to voters upset with both choices from the two major parties, Biden and former President Trump. He has gained some support in the polls but mostly stayed at no higher than 10 percent, well behind both candidates.
He is averaging about 8 percent in the aggregate of national polls from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ. But he has been racking up signatures in various states as part of his effort to get on the ballot in every state nationwide.
