Wall Street executive backs RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group

A veteran Wall Street executive told CNBC that he helped fund Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine group and became an unofficial adviser to the group.

Mark Gorton, founder and chairman of high-frequency trading firm Tower Research Capital, said it has donated $1 million to the anti-vaccine nonprofit Children’s Health Defense starting in 2021.

Kennedy, longtime vaccine critic Son of the late Senator and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, he founded Children’s Health Defense. The young Kennedy also served as chairman of the group’s board before running for president as a Democrat in April.

While President Joe Biden is the clear favorite for the 2024 Democratic nomination, Mr. Kennedy is garnering surprising support, with 19% of Democratic primary voters in a recent Fox News poll. It is shown that there are investigated I will endorse him in the primary.

Polls also show that President Kennedy’s growing influence has coincided with growing skepticism about vaccines. scientific evidence Make sure your shot is safe. Kennedy is drawing support from longtime politicians, including former Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinichwho are running the campaign. Former President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was reportedly pictured with Kennedy in 2021. According to ABC News.

In a nearly 90-minute interview at New York’s Cafe Fiorello, Gorton said he supports Kennedy’s presidential campaign and has met many times since donating to the children’s health advocacy group. .

“I like him a lot. He’s very smart. Again, he’s not a real politician. He fights corruption,” Gorton said., He added that he had Kennedy’s cell phone number.

Asked about Gorton’s donation, a Child Health Defense Service spokeswoman said in an email that “CHD donor information is confidential and will only be communicated to the IRS in accordance with IRS regulations.” rules/regulations. “

A Kennedy campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment before the announcement.

Associated Press report Children’s Health Defense played a key role in opposing the coronavirus vaccine and helped raise Kennedy’s profile, he said. According to the latest tax filings released by the nonprofit, the nonprofit raised just over $6 million in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than double the amount from the previous year.

The organization has sent tax documents to CNBC starting in 2021. show The group raised just over $15 million that year. Wealth entered 2022 above $11 million. The document does not list the names of the organization’s donors.

Beyond donations, Gorton said he speaks with staff at nonprofits via Zoom calls, advising them on messaging strategies. “I’ve been working with them to develop a strategy that basically targets the core of the pharmaceutical beast,” he said.

Last year, Mr. Gorton donated $500,000 to a super PAC, then called the People Farmers Movement, according to Federal Election Commission records. other Kennedy allies. FEC records show that the PAC, rebranded as American Values ​​2024, spent more than $200,000 on print ads supporting Kennedy’s candidacy.

Gorton said he has no plans to donate to PAC at this time. “For me, I don’t think that’s something that’s going to be done with a huge amount of leverage. Being backing Bobby Kennedy means you’re in the realm of a presidential election where billions of dollars are spent. I don’t think you can make any money on ‘the difference on that scale,’ Gorton said.

Kennedy linked vaccines and autism.it has been error exposed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and American Academy of Pediatrics. Through him, Gorton sub stack, announced his view on the new coronavirus vaccine. Like Kennedy, he questions the credibility of these federal and global medical institutions.

Gorton, who is also the founder of peer-to-peer online content creator Limewire, has dabbled in other conspiracy theories.

Gawker report Gorton announced in 2014 that he had written an essay on various conspiracies, including the idea that former President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 as part of a “full scale coup.” President Kennedy was the uncle of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. resemble Conspiracy that the Central Intelligence Agency was behind the assassination.

The CIA continues to deny involvement in the assassination.

Gorton told CNBC that he would continue to stand by most of what he wrote in the essay.