Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on COVID-era lockdowns, masks, and distancing: warns against

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the COVID-era lockdowns closed “3.5 million businesses” with “no due process, no just compensation,” per reporting on his August 2, 2026 CNN State of the Union interview. At the September 29, 2026 MAHA Summit, he argued that AI would contradict official claims that “masks work” or “social distancing works,” per AI Weekly.

Kennedy’s stated reasoning is that the measures were imposed without adequate evidence or due process, devastated small businesses, and entrenched unchecked public-health authority — part of what he calls “medical tyranny.” His position on lockdowns long predates his HHS tenure and was a through-line of his 2024 presidential campaign.

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