Robert F. Kennedy Jr., independent presidential candidate and proponent of various conspiracy theories, said he will “open the files” on the 9/11 attacks if elected president, vowing not to “take sides” on the issue.
“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,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X on Friday. “As President I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates. But I can promise is that I will open the files and usher in a new era of transparency.”
The long-shot presidential candidate said his stance on 9/11 came in response to recent reporting from CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that a Saudi intelligence operative with ties to two 9/11 hijackers may have been involved in planning the attacks.
Kennedy said that releasing government files on “contentious topics” like 9/11 and unidentified aerial phenomena, or UFOs — issues he said he was “personally agnostic on” — would be his way of re-establishing public trust in the government.
“Speculation about what our government may be covering up is rife outside the mainstream of our political culture,” he wrote. “Trust [in] government is at an all-time low. The way to restore that trust is through honesty and transparency.”
Kennedy’s reputation as a conspiracy theorist precedes him. He has repeatedly spread debunked anti-vaccine claims, suggested that gender dysphoria is a result of chemicals in the water supply, questioned whether HIV infections cause AIDS, and promoted the conspiracy theory that the CIA assassinated his uncle President John F. Kennedy.
His comments about the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, also came on the heels of recent disturbing news reports about his past. In May, The New York Times reported that Kennedy said in 2012 that a worm had eaten part of his brain. This week, Vanity Fair reported on a sexual assault accusation against Kennedy and suggested that he may have eaten dog meat in the past. He declined to comment on the sexual assault allegation and said the cooked animal he was pictured with was a goat.