Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the latest scion of the Kennedy clan to seek the presidency, has a set of unusual fans: some of the most influential tech executives and investors in America. Kennedy\u2019s strong anti-vaccine views are, for this group, a sideshow.<\/p>\n

\u201cTearing down all these institutions of power. It gives me glee,\u201d said one of his boosters in tech, Chamath Palihapitiya, a garrulous former Facebook executive, nearly two hours into a May episode of the popular \u201cAll-In\u201d podcast he co-hosts with other tech luminaries. The person who might help with the demolition was the show\u2019s guest, Kennedy himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too,\u201d responded David Sacks, Palihapitiya\u2019s co-host on the podcast, an early investor in Facebook and Uber. Sacks and Palihapitiya said they would host a fundraiser for Kennedy, which, according to the Puck news<\/a> outlet, was set for June 15.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s newfound friends in Silicon Valley were mostly loud supporters of vaccines early in the pandemic, but they have proven more than willing to let him expound on his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories as he promotes his presidential bid. During a two-hour forum on Twitter, hosted by company owner Elon Musk and Sacks, Kennedy raised a range of themes, but returned to the subject he\u2019s become famous for in recent years: his skepticism about vaccines and the pharmaceutical companies that sell them.<\/p>\n

Indeed, on the June 5 appearance, he praised Musk for ending \u201ccensorship\u201d on his corner of social media. A promoter of conspiracy theories, Kennedy said various forces are keeping him from discussing his safety concerns over vaccines, like Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (as part of the intelligence apparatus), Big Pharma, and Roger Ailes (who has been dead for six years).<\/p>\n

Kennedy argued an influx of direct-to-consumer advertising from pharmaceutical concerns keep media outlets, like Fox News, from featuring his theories about vaccine safety. Fox didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

He then said he supported reversing policies that allow direct-to-consumer ads in media. (Kennedy earlier dubbed himself a \u201cfree-speech absolutist\u201d and, later, in a discussion about nuclear power, a \u201cfree-market absolutist\u201d and even later a \u201cconstitutional absolutist.\u201d Legal scholars doubt the courts<\/a>, on First Amendment grounds, would be receptive to a ban of direct-to-consumer ads.)<\/p>\n

Support for Kennedy in the venture capital and tech communities, which have a big financial stake in the advancement of science and generally reject irrational conspiracy theories, is likely limited. Multiple venture capitalists and technologists contacted by KFF Health News expressed puzzlement over what\u2019s driving the embrace from Musk and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is a lower-intellect, Democratic version of Donald Trump, so he attracts libertarian-leaning, anti-\u2018woke,\u2019 socially liberal folks as a protest vote,\u201d said Robert Nelsen, a biotech investor with Arch Venture Partners. \u201cI think he is a dangerous conspiracy theorist, who has contributed to many deaths with his anti-vaccine lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But the ones with the megaphones are letting Kennedy talk. Jason Calacanis, another co-host of \u201cAll-In\u201d and a pal of Musk\u2019s, said late in the podcast he was pleased the conversation didn\u2019t lead with \u201csensational\u201d topics \u2014 like vaccines. Still, during the podcast, Kennedy was given nearly five uninterrupted minutes to describe his views on shots \u2014 a long list of alleged safety problems, ranging from allergies, autism, to autoimmune problems, many of which have been discredited by reputable scientists.<\/p>\n
David Friedberg, another Silicon Valley executive and guest on the show, suggested there wasn\u2019t \u201cdirect evidence\u201d for those problems. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s solely the vaccines,\u201d Kennedy conceded. After an interlude touching on the role of chemicals, he was back to injuries caused by diphtheria shots.<\/p>\n
While Friedberg, a former Google executive and founder of an agriculture startup sold to Monsanto for a reported $1.1 billion, pushed back against Kennedy, he did so deep into the podcast, after the candidate had left. Kennedy\u2019s views \u2014 on nuclear power and vaccines \u2014 manifest \u201cas conspiracy theories,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t resonate with me,\u201d he continued, as he \u201clikes to have empirical truth be demonstrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The muted pushback is a bit of a reversal. Early in the rollout of covid-19 vaccines, many tech luminaries had been among the most loudly pro-shot individuals. The \u201cAll-In\u201d crew was no exception. Sacks once tweeted<\/a>, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to raise the bar for what we expect from government\u201d; Palihapitiya begged administrators<\/a> to \u201cstop virtue signaling\u201d with vaccination criteria and simply mass-vaccinate instead.<\/p>\n
That was then. Sacks recently retweeted a video of Bill Gates questioning the effectiveness of current covid vaccines and defended Kennedy from charges of being anti-vaccination.<\/p>\n
Musk himself has sometimes suggested he has qualms with vaccines, tweeting in January<\/a>, without evidence, that \u201cI\u2019m pro vaccines in general, but there\u2019s a point where the cure\/vaccine is potentially worse, if administered to the whole population, than the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk isn\u2019t the only top tech executive to signal interest in Kennedy\u2019s candidacy. Block CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has tweeted<\/a> Kennedy \u201ccan and will\u201d win the presidency.<\/p>\n
In some ways, the Valley\u2019s interest in Kennedy \u2014 vaccine skepticism and all \u2014 has deep roots. Tech culture grew out of Bay Area counterculture. It has historically embraced individualistic theories of health and wellness. While most have conventional views on health, techies have dabbled in \u201cnootropics,\u201d supplements that purportedly boost mental performance, plus fad diets, microdosing psychedelics, and even quests for immortality.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a \u201cdeeply held anti-establishment ethos\u201d among many tech leaders, said University of Washington historian Margaret O\u2019Mara. There\u2019s a \u201csuspicion of authority, disdain for gatekeepers and traditionalists, dislike of bureaucracies of all kinds. This too has its roots in the counterculture era, and the 1960s antiwar movement, in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n
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