‘He’s stoking fear.’ Anti-vaccine candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr campaigns in Kansas City

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate for president, is making his second visit to the Kansas City area this year with a campaign rally Wednesday evening.

Kennedy, who is known for peddling disproven myths about vaccines, is scheduled to appear at the Uptown, a concert venue with a 2,400 person standing room capacity, in Kansas City at 5:30 in the evening.

A member of a Democratic political dynasty, Kennedy announced in October he would run for president as an independent after initially pursuing a Democratic primary challenge against President Joe Biden.

He is currently working to gather the signatures needed to get his name added to ballots across the U.S. Kennedy will need 5,000 signatures in Kansas and 10,000 in Missouri.

While Kennedy’s candidacy represents a long shot, he pulled just 8% of the vote in a recent Wall Street Journal poll, his run has drawn concerns he could act as a spoiler for Biden or Former President Donald J. Trump in a potential general election matchup.

“We have a robust ballot-access team and RFK Jr.’s name will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” Kennedy spokesperson Stefanie Spear said in a press release announcing the campaign stop. “We have begun signature collection in open states and are confident Mr. Kennedy will get the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the White House.”

Kennedy’s campaign has also amplified anti-vaccine rhetoric that has grown in Kansas and Missouri since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States.

Kennedy has falsely claimed the COVID-19 vaccine killed more people than it saved and has suggested the pandemic itself was a government conspiracy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has consistently said the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. Standard childhood vaccines, the agency says, are important tools to prevent serious illness.

“He’s stoking fear and he’s making a career out of that,” said Tracy Russell, executive director of Nurture KC, a nonprofit focused on maternal and infant health.

“What he is pitching is not based in evidence. It’s based in fear and often what he’s promoting is debunked theories. And it’s incredibly dangerous and it has consequences for the health of all people.”

Meanwhile, resistance to vaccine requirements and public health mandates have become dominant themes in the Kansas and Missouri statehouses

Cindy Samuelson, a spokesperson for the Kansas Hospital Association, said the organization has seen an increase in anti-vaccine rhetoric in recent years “that puts Kansans at risk.”

Kansas state Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat, said rhetoric from Kennedy lends a false sense of legitimacy to the movement.

“When a recognized person with a national recognition promotes that kind of thinking it does not lay well for the safety of all of us,” Pettey said.

In the past three years lawmakers have persistently introduced bills in Missouri and Kansas to loosen existing requirements. In Kansas, many of those policies have failed to become law.

It’s unclear, at this point, whether those policies will be a priority when lawmakers return to Jefferson City and Topeka next month.

While fights over COVID-19 vaccine requirements were few and far between last legislative session in Missouri, the issue could still rear its head in the General Assembly.

Republican lawmakers have pre-filed a handful of bills this year seeking to limit or get rid of the requirements. For example, a bill from Missouri state Sen. Jill Carter, a Granby Republican, would strip public funds from health care facilities that refuse service based on a person’s vaccination status.

Another Missouri bill from state Sen. Andrew Koenig, a Manchester Republican, would ban public school districts and charter schools from requiring students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear face masks.

In Kansas, House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said in a statement that Republicans would be focused on “striking a balance between government overreach and public health.”

Debbie Mize, the Vice President of the anti-vaccine group Kansans for Health Freedom, said her organization will continue to push for policies that ensure Kansans have control over their healthcare choices. She did not specify what those policies would look like.

“It’s where public opinion is headed,” Mize said. “The people who once thought one way are waking up to see another way.”

Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said she was working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to clarify Kansas’ existing vaccine requirements. She said she had yet not heard of any bills to adjust requirements.

“We’re not as stringent as what people think we are,” Landwehr said.