Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his rumored potential vice presidential candidate, New York Jets football quarterback Aaron Rodgers, are well-known for questioning the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. However, recently uncovered footage indicates that Kennedy attributes the development of gay individuals to plastic pollution, and Rodgers believes that corrupt pharmaceutical companies played a part in creating AIDS.
In a recent interview with Surfer, a website for surfing enthusiasts, Kennedy discussed the environmental problem of plastic pollution in the ocean. He also mentioned microplastics, small plastic fragments ingested by fish and humans.
“They’re not only carcinogenic, but they’re very potent endocrine disruptors. They disrupt fertility. They disrupt sexual behavior, sexual development, sexual identity,” Kennedy said. While studies have shown that chemicals in plastic can affect a person’s sexual hormones, there’s no proof that the chemicals can affect a person’s sexual identity. Rather, psychologists and animal behaviorists consider sexual identity to be determined by a combination of genetic, social, and other factors.
Kennedy’s view isn’t altogether surprising. In 2023, he said that the existence of frogs that can change their gender prove chemicals in the water are turning kids trans. He didn’t mention any specific scientific studies that back up his claim.
“I think a lot of the problems we see in kids, and particularly boys, it’s probably underappreciated how much of that is coming from chemical exposures, including a lot of sexual dysphoria that we’re seeing,” Kennedy told transphobic Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson. “They’re swimming through a soup of toxic chemicals today. And many of those are endocrine disruptors.”
“There’s atrazine throughout our water supply,” Kennedy continued. “If you, in a lab, put atrazine in a tank full of frogs, it will chemically castrate and forcibly feminize every frog in there. And 10 percent of the frogs, the male frogs, will turn into fully viable females able to produce viable eggs. If it’s doing that to frogs, there’s a lot of other evidence that it’s doing it to human beings as well.”
His claims reminded many social media commenters of a similar claim made by infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of InfoWars. Jones has said that the government puts chemicals in the water to turn Americans more feminine. He has made this claim repeatedly and cites the made-up “fact” that most frogs in the U.S. are gay now as “proof.”
In a recently unearthed interview, Rodgers compared the COVID-19 pandemic to the AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and ’90s. He implied that both were “created” to financially benefit “corrupt” pharmaceutical companies. The video was originally recorded sometime between March 2020 and December 2020, during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The gameplay was made in the ’80s: create a pandemic with a virus that’s going wild,” Rodgers said. “[Infectious diseases government official Dr. Anthony] Fauci was given over $350 million to research this, to come up with drugs, new or repurposed, to handle the AIDS pandemic — and all they came up with was AZT.” AZT was the first antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. Its long-term, high-dose side effects could negatively impact the blood, heart, and muscle tissue.
Rodgers stated that in the past, the plan was to create a situation where only one treatment, AZT, worked. Now, he claims that the focus is on remdesivir until a vaccine is available. Additionally, he mentioned Fauci's involvement in the Moderna vaccine and criticized Pfizer's alleged corrupt behavior.
There is no proof that Fauci has personal financial investment in a coronavirus vaccine, as stated in an April 2020 fact-check by The Austin-American Statesman. an April 2020 fact-check by The Austin-American Statesman.
As proof of Pfizer’s corruption, Rodgers mentioned a $2.3 billion settlement that the pharmaceutical company reached with the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009 for allegedly promoting several medications’ “off-label” uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company has also recently faced allegations of corrupt practices in other countries. In 2009, Pfizer settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for $2.3 billion due to allegedly promoting the unapproved use of medications. There have also been recent accusations of corrupt practices in foreign countries against the company. Rodgers’ insinuation that the AIDS pandemic was intentionally created by drug companies is a long-held conspiracy theory. This theory also suggests that AIDS was part of a plot to reduce the populations of certain groups, which persisted during the AIDS pandemic and continues to circulate online and offline. During a 2020 interview, Rodgers acknowledged that he is not a medical expert but emphasized his ability to read and learn. He expressed frustration over the disapproval of questioning authority and doing independent research. His emphasis on conducting his own “research” is commonly echoed by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination advocates to imply that their opinions and online content consumption hold equal weight to the years of academic training and clinical research undergone by doctors.
Rodgers has expressed similar opinions on the podcast of Joe Rogan, who has expressed doubts about COVID-19 vaccines and holds transphobic views. Rodgers has been criticized for misleading the public and media, claiming he was “immunized” against COVID-19 when he had not adhered to NFL vaccination policy. After an investigation, the NFL fined Rodgers $14,650, and he later tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2021.
He invoked the old HIV conspiracy theory to criticize the COVID-19 vaccines.
His refrain of doing his own “research” is often repeated by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination advocates to suggest that their own opinions and online media consumption are equal to doctors’ years-long academic training and clinical research.
Rodgers has shared similar views on the podcast of transphobic COVID-19 vaccine doubter Joe Rogan. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rodgers misled the public and media by saying he was “immunized” against COVID-19. A subsequent investigation by the National Football League (NFL) found no evidence to suggest that he had been vaccinated, as required by NFL policy. The NFL fined Rodgers $14,650, and he later tested positive for COVID-19 in November 2021.
