Speaking of amateurs who refuse to trust professionals –

Guests invited to a holiday party at the home of the leading anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr were urged to be vaccinated or tested for Covid-19 because, Kennedy said, he is “not always the boss at my own house”.

The what?

Why would he be “the boss” at “his own” house? He’s married, so it’s not exclusively his house, is it, and he’s not “the boss,” is he. What a stupid, piggy, ugly way to talk, even assuming he was sort of joking. That kind of joke rests on a lot of piggy assumptions. All that and he’s an anti-vaxxer.

Speaking to Politico, which reported the request before the party in California last week, Kennedy said his wife, the actor Cheryl Hines, was behind it.

…

Amid widespread criticism, Doug Heye, a Republican operative, wrote: “The ol’ blame-the-wife-for-wanting-people-to-be-safe-when-you’re-an-anti-vaxxer move. Classy.”

Even a Republican operative can see it.

Kennedy has campaigned on environmental issues but is also a leading vaccines conspiracy theorist and activist against shots including those approved to combat Covid-19, which has killed more than 805,000 in the US and more than 5.3 million worldwide.

Earlier this year, Kennedy was removed from Instagram, for sharing misinformation about Covid-19. His Facebook page remains active, as does his Twitter account.

Last month, Kennedy released a book in which he attacks targets including Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser. Its title, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, has been no obstacle to bestseller status on Amazon.

Subtitle: Masons, Jews, Fluoridation of Water, UFOs, Manly Men.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that Kennedy’s anti-vaccination non-profit, Children’s Health Defense, more than doubled revenue in the first year of the pandemic, reporting $6.8m raised.

That’s just great. He’s using his inherited fame to encourage people to catch a lethal virus.

According to the AP, CHD has recently expanded the reach of its newsletter, launched an internet TV channel, started a movie studio, opened new US branches and established outposts in Canada, Europe and Australia.

The AP also said CHD had become a leading “alternative and natural medicine site”, with millions of users, in part by targeting groups that may be more prone to distrust vaccines, including mothers and African Americans.

Dr Richard Allen Williams, a cardiologist and founder of the Minority Health Institute, said Kennedy was leading “a propaganda movement” and “absolutely a racist operation” particularly dangerous to Black Americans.

“He’s really the ringleader of the misinformation campaign,” Williams said.

Nice legacy.