Originally published October 9, 2023 10:30 am PDT
In a passionate op-ed published in The Hill, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his intention to run as an independent presidential candidate.
Kennedy is aiming to free the federal government from “the corporate and financial interests that have a merciless grip on our democracy.”
Kennedy emphatically states, “My goal is to make the federal government independent too — independent of the corporate and financial interests that have a merciless grip on our democracy.”
Drawing attention to the bipartisan problem of corporate influence, he asserts, “For decades, Republicans have railed against Big Government, and Democrats have complained about Big Business. Behind the scenes though, they have capitulated to both.”
In his op-ed, Kennedy highlights several government bodies that he perceives have been overtaken by corporate interests.
He questions, “Is it any wonder that our food is unwholesome, when pesticide companies and food conglomerates control the U.S. Department of Agriculture?”
He also sheds light on the concerning merger of defense contractors with governmental agencies, asking, “Is it any wonder that we wage endless wars when the defense contractors control the intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense and the State Department?”
Drawing on personal experiences, he reveals, “In a lawsuit I filed against the chemical-agriculture giant Monsanto, I learned that a top official at EPA working on pesticides had been secretly colluding with Monsanto for years.”
He also discussed the influence of pharmaceutical giants on institutions like the CDC, NIH, and NIAID, hinting at the tenure of Anthony Fauci: “Could that have anything to do with the fact that Big Pharma effectively runs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — the agency Anthony Fauci led for four decades?” RFK Jr. asked.
Kennedy’s criticism does not discriminate between party lines.
He mentioned President Trump’s alleged relationship with Pfizer and claims about President Biden’s ties to BlackRock, asserting, “President Biden does the same thing. He has appointed executives of BlackRock to top economic posts, confirming BlackRock’s moniker as ‘The Fourth Branch of Government.'”
Expressing his determination, Kennedy affirms, “I am not interested in business as usual.”
His vision involves overhauling the federal bureaucracy to prioritize public interest.
He states, “I will recruit these people from among activists who have been fighting to do what the agencies should have been doing all along — protect the public interest.”
Furthermore, he promises a “new era of transparency,” taking a dig at the opacity of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) responses.
Kennedy closes by emphasizing the need to rebuild trust between the American people and their government.
He urges, “Cleaning up the agencies and making them transparent servants of the public interest is an important step to earn that trust back.”
