Yet during that same period, Mr. Kennedy appeared on more than two dozen podcasts hosted by personalities popular with the right wing, such as
Jordan Peterson and
Joe Rogan, as well as in online meetings and video streams where he brought up a variety of fringe ideas. At times, he made unfounded claims about vaccines and questioned whether chemicals in the water supply were causing “sexual dysphoria” among children in the United States.
The shift in Mr. Kennedy’s behavior is stark after his nearly two decades of promoting unsubstantiated theories about vaccines and other matters. Misinformation researchers said the candidate had probably tempered his most extreme positions to appeal to a wider audience and win over voters.
“If you only hear what he says in those big, open forums, you might think this is a reasonable, moderate person I want to support — and that is the point,” said Kolina Koltai, a misinformation researcher who has studied anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. “He is making himself mainstream.”