Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the presidential hopeful and prominent conspiracy theorist, is now conspiracy theory fodder himself following a recent appearance on Fox News.
The independent candidate told the right-wing news network on Tuesday that he and his family twice flew on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane decades ago.
Epstein, an uber-wealthy financier known to hobnob with celebrities and political figures, died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
His death has fueled baseless conspiracy theories, particularly on the right, alleging he was killed to keep him from sharing damaging information about high-profile figures in his orbit. In particular, conspiracy theorists have alleged that flight logs from Epstein’s private jets — including one nicknamed the “Lolita Express” — could provide clues about possible co-conspirators in Epstein’s alleged sex crimes.
To be clear: Kennedy hasn’t been accused of committing sex crimes and no one besides Epstein himself and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell have been charged as part of the allegations. Maxwell was convicted in 2019 of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
But that background is how we arrived at Kennedy’s Fox News appearance on Tuesday night, in which host Jesse Watters asked him if he’d ever flown on Epstein’s plane.
Kennedy, appearing caught off-guard, admitted that he and his family took two flights on Epstein’s plane: one in 1993 to visit his mother in Palm Beach, Florida, and another to go “fossil hunting” in Rapid City, South Dakota. (Weeks ago, his staff told Newsweek he’d flown only once on Epstein’s plane.)
Kennedy told Watters that his then-wife — Mary Richardson Kennedy, who died in 2012 — had “some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell.”
“I was never on his jet alone,” he added. “I’ve been very open about this from the beginning. This was in ’93, so it was 30 years ago. It was before anybody knew about Jeffrey Epstein’s, you know, his nefarious issues.”
Watters: You weren't on Jeffrey Epstein's jet were you?
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 6, 2023
RFK JR: I was on Jeffrey Epstein's jet two times… pic.twitter.com/5YO0efzMq7
Kennedy’s comments got a lot of pickup on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, where right-wing accounts — including some known to spread conspiracy theories — seized upon the remarks. And all this comes at a time when many in the MAGA movement appear worried that Kennedy’s campaign could peel voters away from Donald Trump in 2024.
For years, Kennedy has benefitted from spreading conspiracy theories about everything from America’s water supply to vaccines. Now that his previous ties to Epstein are in the spotlight, he seems to be getting a taste of his own medicine.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.