West Village Pol Turns Down RFK Jr.'s Science Debate Challenge

WEST VILLAGE, NY — State Sen. Brad Hoylman has declined a debate challenge from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Lower Manhattan elected official called for Twitter to suspend Kennedy's Twitter account in April.

Hoylman penned a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on April 6 calling on him to permanently suspend Kennedy's Twitter account for "repeatedly spreading misinformation about the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccines."

The state senator, who represents the West Village and is running for Manhattan Borough President, also called on Twitter to suspend the Children's Health Defense — an organization that Kennedy founded and chairs.

Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy, is a longtime anti-vaccine advocate who has floated a baseless conspiracy theory linking Bill Gates and his work to develop a coronavirus vaccine with an underlying motive to insert microchips in people.

He was blocked from Instagram in February for "repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines," a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told NPR at the time.

Kennedy issued a response letter to Hoylman last week, quoting Game of Thrones author Geroge R.R. Martin, and challenging Hoylman to a Zoom debate on science, according to Hoylman's office.

"Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s rantings and citations of debunked pseudoscience add nothing to our national discourse. We won’t take the bait - and we are not going to give him a platform to continue to spread medical disinformation through a debate," Hoylman said in a news release. “Scientists agree: these conspiracy theories are wrong and pose a danger to our public health."

A quick scroll through Kennedy's Twitter account shows recent posts about Johnson & Johnson's ability to make a vaccine and a link to a story written by his organization about a teenager whose health deteriorated after getting a vaccine.

Kennedy did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has challenged me to a debate.

I reject the bait — his rantings and citations of debunked pseudoscience add nothing to our national discourse.

Instead, I challenge him to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

And I challenge Twitter to permanently ban his accounts. pic.twitter.com/tX7zl8wBN1
— Senator Brad Hoylman (@bradhoylman) May 4, 2021