Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rounded out the tumultuous week for his presidential campaign with a statement that raises eyebrows about conspiracy theories surrounding the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The independent candidate said Friday on X, formerly Twitter, that he “will not take sides on September 11” if elected to the White House.
Instead, he vowed to “usher in a new era of transparency” surrounding the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon outside Washington, DC, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
“My opinion on September 11: it is difficult to say what is a conspiracy theory and what is not. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public,” Kennedy wrote, suggesting he hopes to “open the files” related to the attacks.
In a few follow-up posts, Kennedy explained that he was referring to a recent “60 Minutes” segment which investigated “possible Saudi involvement in 9/11, which gave rise to all kinds of speculation about X.”
“Speculation about what our government may be covering up is rife outside the mainstream of our political culture.” He wroteadding that trust in government is low.
“The way to restore that trust is through honesty and transparency. That is my promise, and that is what will resolve all questions about September 11, UAPs and other controversial topics,” he said, using a term for unidentified anomalous phenomena known as UFOs.
He further noted: “I am personally agnostic on these issues. My problem is TRANSPARENCY.”
Earlier this week, several families of September 11th became victims called out President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, for failing to respond to a recently released prisoner video in which Omar al-Bayoumi, identified by the FBI as a Saudi intelligence agent, appears to be scouting American landmarks in 1999, around the time planners would decide on targets on September 11. The footage was notably included in the “60 Minutes” segment.
Kennedy apparently alluded to his skepticism last fall during an appearance on the “In the room with Peter Bergen“podcast.
“I don’t know what happened on September 11,” he says said at the time. “I understand what the official statement is. I understand there is disagreement. I haven’t looked at it. I haven’t researched it. I’m not a good person to talk about it.”