YouTube has removed Jordan Peterson’s interview with 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for “vaccine misinformation.”
The video sharing platform prohibits posting content “that poses a serious risk of egregious harm by spreading medical misinformation about currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and by the World Health Organization (WHO).”
“We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.
Peterson criticized the removal, saying that YouTube has “taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign.”
Now @YouTube has taken upon itself to actively interfere with a presidential election campaign @RobertKennedyJr https://t.co/XmgOYTl3NN
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) June 18, 2023
The interview was also posted to Twitter and has not been removed from that platform.
Rekindling the Spirit of the Classic Democrat | @RobertKennedyJr | Ep.363 pic.twitter.com/RKBm5YT2Vi
— The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast (@JBPpod) June 5, 2023
Kennedy is currently Biden’s leading challenger in the Democrat primary.
A new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll obtained by The Hill on Friday found that Kennedy has 15 percent of support among a sample of the party’s primary voters. Additionally, 21 percent of respondents said they have a positive view of him.
“RFK Jr. is well liked but holds only 15 percent against Joe Biden who has strengthened his position as the likely nominee for the Democrats as we head towards an epic rematch,” Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, told the outlet.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Supported by 14% of Voters Who Backed President Joe Biden in 2020
Kennedy is well known for having been heavily critical of vaccines for roughly 15 years — which only intensified during COVID-19.
The 2024 hopeful runs a non-profit called Children’s Health Defense. According to the organization’s website, its mission is to “end childhood health epidemics by working aggressively to eliminate harmful exposures, hold those responsible accountable, and establish safeguards to prevent future harm. We fight corruption, mass surveillance and censorship that put profits before people as well as advocate for worldwide rights to health freedom and bodily autonomy.”
The organization provides legal assistance with fighting mandatory vaccination in schools and the workplace.
In March, Kennedy and CHD filed a class action lawsuit against Biden, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and dozens of other officials and agencies. The complaint alleges that “the defendants have colluded with, encouraged and pressured social media companies to suppress speech that the government does not want the public to hear and to silence specific speakers who are critical of federal policy.”
CHD President and General Counsel Mary Holland said in a statement about the lawsuit, “If Government can censor its critics, there is no atrocity it cannot commit. The public has been deprived of truthful, life-and-death information over the last three years; this lawsuit aims to have government censorship end, as it must, because it is unlawful under our constitution.”
Late last month, Kennedy said that if elected, he would prosecute any official who engaged in criminal wrongdoing during the pandemic.
“It is dawning on mainstream figures like Anthony Fauci that their Covid policies were a public health disaster,” Kennedy began. “Lots of us are angry about the mandates, the lockdowns, the censorship, the insanity. But we need to avoid the toxic quagmire of retribution and blame and focus on ensuring this never happens again. Clean up the regulatory agencies, get corporate money out of public health, and guarantee free, open, uncensored public and scientific discourse.”
Of course, officials who betrayed the public trust must not be allowed to hold power. I will remove them from their positions and, if laws were broken, my attorney general will prosecute.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 27, 2023
Kennedy continued, “Of course, officials who betrayed the public trust must not be allowed to hold power. I will remove them from their positions and, if laws were broken, my attorney general will prosecute.”
“Just to be clear, I will prosecute any official who engaged in criminal wrongdoing during the pandemic,” the candidate said. “Corrupt individuals are a small part of the problem. Our agencies have been captured by corporate power, but the vast majority of their staff are decent people. We need to get corporate influence out of *all* regulatory agencies so that they can serve the people honestly.”
“Not retribution, but justice!” Kennedy said. “As President, I will direct my attorney general to investigate and prosecute every person who knowingly defrauded or deceived the American public about the safety and efficacy of medical products and I will obtain justice and compensation for every American who was injured or suffered the death of family members from those actions. As a presidential candidate, I’ll continue to expose corruption to obtain justice for the injured.”
Not retribution, but justice! As President, I will direct my attorney general to investigate and prosecute every person who knowingly defrauded or deceived the American public about the safety and efficacy of medical products and I will obtain justice and compensation for every…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 27, 2023
