RFK Jr. getting helping hand from pro-Trump organization with 'stop the steal' ties

Robert F. Kennedy's outsider run for the presidency was recently given a boost at an event hosted by a New York activist organization with ties to both Donald Trump and the "stop the steal" movement that helped precipitate the Jan. 6 insurrection.

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut, Kennedy — whose campaign has been centered on his anti-vaccination views — appeared at a "medical freedom conference" last weekend that was backed by the Constitutional Coalition of New York State that was knee-deep in questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election.

As the report notes, "Previously, the CCNYS posted calls to 'Help The Trump Team!' on its Facebook page and its founders have links to two far-right groups whose members participated in the Jan. 6 riot and some key events leading up to it," while also adding that "the Marching Patriots and Rolling Patriots—one protesting on foot, the other in automobile motorcades—got their start during the pandemic protesting lockdowns, and some of their members traveled to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Those groups got involved with the CCNYS founders at the same COVID protests where a local militia sometimes provided security."

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Add to that, the group's founders, Nick and Nancie Orticelli, have links to the Watchmen, a rightwing militant group which provided securirty during anti-vax events during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Orticelli, inviting Kennedy has nothing to do with the group's history with the former president, telling the Beast, "I didn’t meet him, never spoke to him, never had any conversation with him before or since. You just deal with the campaign team,” but did admit she is backing Trump's third bid for the presidency.

She added, "I wish that Trump and Bobby Kennedy would work together,” when it comes to her anti-vax activism.

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