Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is fueling speculation that he’s eyeing a 2028 White House bid after his super PAC hosted an online event featuring hundreds of his supporters, including a high-profile alleged rapist.
The health secretary’s fundraising committee held a video call to discuss how to promote and support vaccine skeptic Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” mandate. While a presidential run wasn’t openly discussed, two people on the call told Axios it felt like Kennedy was testing the waters for a new White House campaign.
One of the speakers who spoke on the call last week in support of Kennedy was British comedian and actor Russell Brand, who has pleaded not guilty to allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Brand, who has embraced Christianity, Donald Trump, and the MAGA movement since the allegations emerged, denied charges of rape, oral rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one of indecent assault at London’s Southwark Crown Court on May 30. The alleged offenses involved four women between 1999 and 2005.
Several weeks before his court appearance, Brand posted a video on social media saying he was “grateful” for the chance to defend himself.
“When I was young and single, before I had my wife and family, I was a fool,” Brand said. “I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile. But what I never was, was a rapist.”
Brand’s appearance on the pro-Kennedy video call isn’t the first time he’s shown support for the health secretary. In June 2024, while Kennedy was still running for president as an independent, Brand performed at a “Night of Comedy” campaign event in Nashville, Tennessee, reportedly being paid $68,000 to appear, according to TMZ.
Others who spoke on the MAHA Super PAC call included the committee’s leader Tony Lyons, vaccine skeptic Robert Malone, and motivational speaker Tony Robbins, Axios reported.
Kennedy, a disowned descendant of the Democratic family dynasty, was seen as a potential disrupter in the 2024 election, potentially peeling voters away from both Trump and Democratic candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Kennedy ultimately suspended his campaign last August and immediately endorsed Trump in the race. It’s unclear whether he would run again in 2028 as an independent or as a Republican in the open GOP primary.
Brand’s rape and sexual assault trial is scheduled to begin on June 3, 2026.
The MAHA Super PAC and Brand did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
