RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year

Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recorded a more than 30% drop in revenue last year, according to recent tax filings.

After years of financial growth, Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recorded a more than 30% drop in revenue last year, to $16 million, according to recent tax filings.

The pandemic boosted the profiles and pocketbooks of anti-vaccine organizations and activists, but none more than Children’s Health Defense and Kennedy. The nonprofit doubled its revenue in 2020 to $6.8 million, then grew again to $16 million in 2021 and $23.5 million in 2022. Last year was the first substantial loss in the organization’s history, of about $3 million, driven by a reduction in contributions, according to the filings. 

Children’s Health Defense, which describes itself as a “child health protection and advocacy group,” provided its tax filings to NBC News. Neither Children’s Health Defense nor Kennedy, who could take on a public health role in President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration, responded to a request for comment. 

Amid unfounded fears over vaccines during the pandemic, Children’s Health Defense expanded its reach beyond the parents of small children and grew beyond its website, which for years had been a hub for health misinformation. Along with growing chapters across the U.S., Canada and Europe, it now boasts an online TV network, a book publishing house and a movie studio. 

The decline in revenue coincides with one notable change within the group last year: the absence of its most prominent advocate. Kennedy had led Children’s Health Defense since 2015, serving as both chairman and chief litigation counsel until April 2023, when the group announced he was going “on leave” to run for president. Kennedy was always a long-shot candidate, running as a Democrat, then an independent, before dropping out to join the Trump campaign in August. Kennedy promoted his new allyship at rallies, urging his supporters to vote for Trump and “Make America Healthy Again.” 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-childrens-health-defense-tax-revenue-loss-rcna179934

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