How Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the scion of a storied dynasty, endured tragedy and scandal, broke with the Democratic Party and his family, stoked conspiracy theories, and is reshaping government and public health.
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“The Rise of RFK Jr.”offers a powerful portrait of how President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services became who he is today — starting with his childhood in the public eye as a nephew of John F. Kennedy and son of Robert F. Kennedy.
The two-hour documentary draws on rich archival footage and two dozen interviews that include Kennedy’s lifelong friends, his cousin, top political advisors, close allies in the anti-vaccine movement, scientists he has clashed with, and some he has pushed out of the government. The film is a revelatory examination of Kennedy’s life — his darkest moments, his triumphs, and the influence he’s now exerting as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“If he continues in the current approach, it will make decisions to get vaccinated more difficult. As you see an erosion of people’s trust, you’ll see the numbers of people getting vaccinated going down, and you’ll start to see the numbers of illnesses coming back up,” says Dr. Daniel Jernigan, one of several top CDC officials who resigned under Kennedy and speaks out in the film. “And that’s an awful thing to think about in a country that has put so much into protecting Americans with vaccines so far.”
But Kennedy’s die-hard supporters, especially from the anti-vaccine movement, insist he is bringing welcome changes to America’s health system.
“He’s trying to triage the worst health situation this country has ever found itself in,” says Del Bigtree, a podcaster, vaccine critic and a close friend of Kennedy. “You don’t have time to have disagreement around you. Get someone in here who agrees with where we’re going, and let’s do this.”
Timely and gripping, “The Rise of RFK Jr.” is a must-watch documentary on one of the most prominent and controversial people in U.S. politics right now, and his impact on the country.
“The Rise of RFK Jr.” is a FRONTLINE production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The director is Michael Kirk. The writers are Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser. The producers are Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser, Vanessa Fica and Elliott Choi. The reporters are Vanessa Fica and Brooke Nelson Alexander. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.
Explore additional reporting on “The Rise of RFK Jr.” on our website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/the-rise-of-rfk-jr/
#Documentary #RobertFKennedyJr #Biography #Politics #PublicHealth
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Support for “The Rise of RFK Jr.” is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Prologue
00:34 – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & Donald Trump Connect After Trump Assassination Attempt on July 13, 2024
05:16 – A Look Back at RFK Jr.’s Childhood
14:35 – RFK Jr.’s Battle With Drug Addiction
36:09 – RFK Jr.’s Marriage to Mary Richardson Kennedy & Her Death by Suicide
41:56 – The Origins of RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Activism
57:02 – RFK Jr.’s Stance on the COVID-19 Pandemic
01:08:09 – RFK Jr.’s 2024 Independent Presidential Campaign
01:16:38 – Why RFK Jr. Endorsed Donald Trump for President in 2024
01:26:04 – RFK Jr.’s Confirmation Hearings for Secretary of Health and Human Services
01:33:48 – How RFK Jr. is Reshaping Public Health in America as HHS Secretary
01:41:23 – An Attack on the CDC Headquarters in Atlanta in August 2025
01:52:17 – Credits
Eyeroll. The oki doki administration needs a Kennedy to complete their facade of credibility, honor and American legitimacy. It's shallow and superficial. Seems psychotic, but that's actually who's running the country. Unprecedented times, with real felons and the vaccine deniers in the white house, playing with the American society like never b4. Guess we'll find out how it turns out later, after it's over 😒
Seems more like a hit job than a documentary. Even with the facts known about Covid and Fauci…still need to bring someone over the fire for speaking. Right or wrong. You can question. Unfortunately not enough people believe that and sheep need to follow what the government tells them. Just remember, Covid was huge….until after the election.
I do believe he will become known as the greatest of the Kennedy men. Do not question Legacy's truth. Do your research. I have followed his work for many many years. This doc rips apart the insides to absolute shreds of those who know the truth and those who will come to believe for the injustices cast upon him. I fought for my health survival as a vaccine harmed human who is close to Bobby's age. His integrity shines. He is a hero of our times. MAHA all the way. Thank you Bobby and the creators of Legacy!!!!!
Great video as always.
Great video
Frontline is the gold standard of documentaries
American children are poisoned yet the Kennedy family have 100s of offspring but zero show symptoms. If that isn’t proof of genetics I don’t know what is.
just another thuggist show….. RFK isn't a conspiracy theorist, that's an ongoing self proving fact in itself by the day
ALL THE COMMENTS ON HERE KNOW RFK JR IS A GOOD MAN DOING THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE. RFK JR IS A CONTINUATION OF THE GREAT MEN OF HIS FAMILY
Just looking at the different sections in this video. I can tell this is a smear video. Bet you barely even speak of him exposes the pesticide companies and litigating against medical companies and industries that have contaminated our water and land. RFK JR is amazing and the left hates him because he exposes bad people
Love you RFKJ. In typical pbs left leaning, they host a whole bunch of assholes. FFS. Go Bobby! MAHA is happening!
Go jfk💯
He's ignorant, dangerous, and dangerously ignorant. People are going to die because of the decisions he's making.
This is so wrong.
I feel bad for what he had to go through as a child, but our problem.
Funny that his two big supporters in this doc are "Del Bigtree" and "Lyn Redwood." I guess his environmental work attracted people named after trees.
Wow. This is the longest SNL skit I've ever seen. 😅😅😅
Got to love when public broadcasting is now a propaganda machine for NGO’s and big pharma. Disgusting and the reason a revolution will happen in our near future.
Once you know who the true Enemies made flesh are, Robert, you will know what your true mission is. Watch out for their proxies. Be blessed.
I find this documentary on a man who was born into a rich family with a crazy grandfather and uncle's and father sleeping around rediciouls. I really don't care because I find him to be a discussing person.
Certifiable nutcase
Do a doc on Cuomo's.
Can we get a documentary on the cuomos
When I saw trump get shot he acted like an ass and he still continues to act like an ass.
Sick how you disrespect RFK Jr. Implying "conspiracy"of his dad and uncle when the evidence is obvious both were covered up.
Then again, you are Main Stream Media.
I think Kennedy is crazy as a loon but haven't seen this bad a hit job by PBS since the Iraq war.
So sad to see the Kennedy family is so broken because of this cause. I hope and pray that Jesus will heal Reobert F. Kennedy Jr.'s heart and heal his family too. They've been through so much. This documentary definitely painted a picture of him as a dangerous man successfully using his broken past. I think that's quite heartless. They should have made this more based on the evidence he was using to target CDC. Those CDC people don't look so credible because there was no scientific evidence they've used to disaprove evidencee Bobby is using. This nothing more than just a sad story about how tragic his life has been. There was nothing i needed to see the evidence that his arguments were wrong other than CDC workers personal opinions. Where are the scientific evidences they are backing???
1:48:11 I remember the CDC telling me it is okay to ignore stay at home orders because racism was a bigger public health issue. You reap what you sow
Only a privleged conspiracy sicko would think the government wasn't telling the truth about the JFK and RFK conspiracies! 55:16
Robert Kennedy Jr is so good as HHS. This is a smear job. Every conspiracy he has had has become true. You've lost my support.
Again, I’m disappointed in the lack of integrity of PBS in using confirmation bias, distortion and outright lies to disparage this man.
His poor little brother and 2nd wife. Poor America and anyone who believes this crack head is qualified to have a medical opinion.
LOLOL: 1:06:48 – "The biden administration starts working with social media companies to take down misinformation" – what a joke!!!!
Frontline used to be so good 10+ years ago. Now they just spam Trump episodes and his cabinent. Click on the uploader name and go to videos. 8+ videos on trump and cabinent. A decade ago they used to do in depth geo politics and journalism to the highest degree, now they have become just another stereotypical mass media political tool. Sad really.
Wow! Such a borderline hit piece production from PBS! To go from a very good researched Frontline production of Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald to this shows the downturn of journalistic integrity. They hardly even mentioned the selection of Nicole Shannahan as running mate! Used to really appreciate programs such as Sesame Street other programs on PBS growing up. This,makes me glad funding for PBS has decreased!
Human's can make order out of chaos, science’s oldest cliché. Inspiring pseudoscientists, conspiracy theorists and (in this case) lawyers. The consequence of systematic cognitive errors (biases), derived from over-simplified logic (heuristics).
Put another way, the victory of qualitative reasoning over quantitative reasoning = postmodernism.
What an idiot, a disgrace to Kennedy name, killer of his brother and wife who out of stupidity dares to say anything to our medical community and march into White House along with other dimwits
I have even more respect for Rfkjr now that i know he lived a like like normal ppl did. Money cant buy a perfect life and hes come alomg way❤❤