Viewpoint: ‘Alt-right’ piles into the RFK. Jr. science-distorting chemophobia-promoting clown car

[Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.] has spread misinformation multiple times over the past three years claiming that herbicides and other chemicals are leading to “gender confusion” among kids and “destroying them.” That those claims have barely entered the public discourse over his nomination speaks to both the vast number of conspiracies Kennedy spreads, and also to the rise of alt-right groups and other conservatives twisting environmental science to justify restricting the rights of vulnerable populations.

Kennedy’s promotion of chemical conspiracies that demonize transgender people have helped him gain support among alt-right influencers online who push a mixture of “wellness” and far-right conspiracies.

…

Those theories became more popular on the far-right after the lockdowns and vaccine mandates of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Joshua Malloy, a researcher who follows extremist digital subcultures at Malmö University in Sweden.

“All of a sudden we see radical right-wing groups emerging within wellness and spirituality-type communities in opposition to vaccines and the lockdowns, and through that there was a pivot towards masculine health and nutrition,” Malloy said.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here