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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaRFK Jr: How anti-vaccine misinformation has shaped his ‘truth-teller’ candidacyPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsUS election 2024Image source, BBC / Getty ImagesBy Rachel SchraerHealth and disinformation reporterAmerica faces an election rematch in November that few voters are motivated by. As a result, independent candidates could have a bigger impact on this year’s result than they have in decades, and none is making bigger waves than Robert F Kennedy Jr. His supporters see him as a courageous truth-teller, battling nefarious corporate powers. Yet the vaccine sceptic has a history of straying from the truth and spreading health information scientists say is false. Rachel Schraer investigates these two very different images. About 20 years ago, Professor Paul Offit received a phone call. “Robert F Kennedy Junior called me and he said that he needed my help,” says the scientist, whose vaccine against rotavirus is estimated to save some two thousand lives a day in the developing world. Mr Kennedy, a member of the famous political dynasty and nephew of former president John F Kennedy, told Prof Offit he was looking for information. He wanted to reassure parents who were worried about the effects of a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal, found in some vaccines. Prof Offit confesses he was excited to be able to talk a Kennedy through the studies, which showed children exposed to thimerosal (not found in most US vaccines anyway since 2001) were no worse off than those who hadn’t had exposure.But a year or so later, Mr Kennedy wrote an article published in Rolling Stone magazine which repeated baseless claims that thimerosal was causing health problems. It also wrongly claimed the vaccine that Prof Offit was working on at the time contained this preservative, suggesting this had driven him to misrepresent the risks. The article was later retracted due to a large number of inaccuracies. Despite these wrong claims, Mr Kennedy – now a presidential candidate – appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast last summer repeating his version of the story.We contacted Mr Kennedy’s team but they did not comment on this specific allegation.”I think he’s remarkably dishonest,” Prof Offit says.You can listen to Trending: “The anti-vax candidate?” on BBC Sounds.And yet, honesty is one of the main reasons RFK Jr’s supporters from across the political spectrum have told the BBC they want him to be the next US president. A January Gallup poll suggested he was the only candidate with a more than 50% favourability rating among the public. That may not mean anything for how people will actually vote, though, with the two major party candidates still expected to draw the vast majority of votes.The worry for both Democrats and Republicans, however, is that RFK Jr might siphon off votes in November that might have otherwise gone to their candidates – set to be Joe Biden and Donald Trump.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Kennedy with his wife, actress Cheryl HinesJay Scott, one supporter, described him as a “courageous truth-teller”.Another, Michigan-based independent voter Bryce Lipscombe told me: “I just trust the man who has sued a bunch of these government agencies and won, who has actually proven that corruption exists.”Many supporters from across the political spectrum said they liked the fact Mr Kennedy was promising to tackle the influence of big business on government, including pharmaceutical companies and the oil and gas industry,They said they found his policies on immigration and drug legalisation to be sensible. And they pointed to his record as an environmental lawyer of suing companies that pollute, with some notable successes including cleaning up the Hudson River in New York. Mr Kennedy appeared to speak especially to people who were unhappy with – or suspicious of – the US government and the rest of the world’s response to the Covid pandemic. Covid vaccine safety – What we knowWhy a year is ‘long-term’ for vaccine safety The vaccine fertility myths that just won’t go awayMr Kennedy’s supporters point to genuine failings by public institutions on issues from the opioid crisis to the Iraq war as reasons they’ve lost trust in the two main parties.But this doesn’t change the fact there are also countless examples of Mr Kennedy spreading conspiracy theories, making false or misleading statements, and sticking by his positions regardless of the evidence presented to the contrary.”Whenever presented with copious evidence and scientific studies that vaccines do not cause autism… or whatever health condition he attributes to them, it is never enough,” said Dr David Gorski, professor of surgery at Wayne State University and managing editor of the site Science Based Medicine. “He always moves the goalposts, demanding still more evidence.”When contacted for comment, Mr Kennedy’s team maintained that: “Proper safety studies have never been conducted on vaccines: long-term, all-cause mortality studies comparing fully-vaccinated children to never-vaccinated children.Many Kennedy supporters echo this argument but Dr Gorski says it “just plain not true”. He explains that for decades countless groups of independent scientists have looked at the effect of vaccines on a huge range of specific health outcomes and found the benefits far outweigh any risks.For Prof Offit, this tactic represents what he sees as the impossibility of debating him.”What do you do with people like Robert Kennedy Junior?” he asks. “When he raises the question: ‘Could this vaccine do harm?’, and then excellent studies are done showing that it doesn’t. And he just refuses to believe them, because he just claims conspiracy at every turn.” But the lack of people willing to debate Mr Kennedy has been held up as just another example – including the past removal of some of his social media accounts – of him being silenced and censored.This “censorship” is part of the reason Mr Kennedy says he is running for president in the first place. He was also part of a legal case against the BBC and other news media organisations claiming they and social media platforms colluded to censor him and others so they couldn’t compete with them.For New York magazine correspondent, Olivia Nuzzi, who has interviewed Mr Kennedy and followed his campaign, some of his supporters’ deep mistrust of mainstream institutions, from scientists to the media, presents an “impossible” problem for those seeking to fact-check his claims. “It’s like two different universes of facts,” she says. Those who distrust powerful institutions are “willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt who they perceive to be righteously challenging that power,” she says, and are, “not interested in arguments from people that they perceive to be doing the bidding of those institutions”.Image source, Getty ImagesMany of RFK Jr’s supporters are impatient with discussion of his stance on vaccines. Some think it’s an attempt by the media to smear him. For others it is simply less important than other issues like the border, surveillance and the economy, including tackling the influence of powerful corporations. But it seems crucial in the question of his relationship to the truth.”If you’re going to speak truth to power,” Prof Offit says, “You should at least tell the truth.”Related TopicsAnti-vaccination movementUS election 2024Top StoriesBiden hopes for Gaza ceasefire by start of RamadanPublished1 hour agoUS president treads carefully through Middle East political minefieldPublished2 hours agoCan Raye break the Brits Awards record?Published38 minutes agoFeaturesBad blood over Singapore Taylor Swift tour subsidiesThe Papers: ‘Democracy under threat’ and ‘Farewell Navalny’Black country singers: ‘We’re tolerated, not celebrated’What video and eyewitness accounts tell us about Gazans killed at aid dropThe two faces of Robert F Kennedy JrJools ‘can’t believe’ he’s finally hit number oneHow worried is Labour after losing Rochdale?Listen: Sunak’s Surprise Downing Street Speech. 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[ad_1] Mr Kennedy, who is running for US president, is seen by supporters as a truth-teller, but often spreads falsehoods.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaBad blood over Singapore Taylor Swift tour subsidiesPublished1 hour agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, EPAImage caption, The Singapore leg of the Eras tour has Swifties flying in from around the regionBy Frances Maoin SingaporeIn the glitzy Asian city-state of Singapore, the sequins are out, limousines polished and hotel pillows plumped.The city’s hosting Taylor Swift’s Eras tour this week – an honour, but one that has come at a cost.That cost was initially reported to be as high as S$24 million (£14m; $18m) for the six shows to be exclusive to South East Asia.Culture minister Edwin Tong has since told Singapore’s CNA the figure was “nowhere as high” – although he still refused to be drawn on the exact figure. The broadcaster, however, suggested it may have been just $2m for all six.But the fact any money had been spent only came to light after an outburst from the prime minister of Thailand, who accused Singapore of paying concert organisers US$2-3m per night.That triggered criticism across the region. In the Philippines, a lawmaker criticised the move, saying “this isn’t what good neighbours do” – and called for a formal protest against the grant.But while governments are seeing red – it’s the fans who are paying the price, literally.Swift is heard everywhere across South East Asia, home to roughly 700 million people – from alleyways in Ho Chi Minh to taxi cabs in Bangkok. So for many it was a punch in the guts to learn all six shows would be held in the region’s most expensive city.Singapore’s currency – one of the strongest in Asia – has long been a deterrent for visitors. But for a chance to see their idol, many of her fans are willing to grin and bear it.Look what you made me doFlight-loads of fans have been touching down at Singapore’s Changi Airport all week, many coming from China and its territories.Swift isn’t playing in China so Singapore is the next best thing for many.One woman flying in from Shenzhen told the BBC she and her friend had spent S$1,200 each on tickets alone. They’ve resorted to camping at a friend’s house after hotel rates across the city surged.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Taylor Swift in Sao PauloOn the luxe end of things, the city’s landmark hotel Marina Bay Sands has sold out of its S$50,000 Swift packages which included four VIP tickets and a three-night stay in a suite.Then there’s 22-year-old Allen Dungca in the Philippines, who scraped together his wages to take him and his mother to Singapore.This Thursday, they’ll take a four-hour bus ride to Manila, stay at an airport motel for the night, then grab their dawn flight the next day.The enterprising student snapped up the travel package back in July. He eventually tracked down the tickets on a resale night, after weeks of desperate hunting.”I am very lucky,” he says of the S$400 outlay for seats in the nosebleed section. “The seller was kind and not a scalper.” Resales now are going for thousands. And he had almost fallen for a scam, a shady character named Pat Steve, later exposed online. He estimates the whole endeavour is costing him S$2,000 – the monthly income of an upper-middle class family in the Philippines, a country where a fifth of the population lives under the poverty line.”Right now, I’m a student with a part-time job and I can afford my wants and needs. But it’s sad, other Swifties don’t have any means or budget to watch her overseas and I know most Filipino Swifties love her so much.”The Philippines arguably has the most ardent Swift fan base – Spotify data showed Quezon City in Manila had played the most streams of the singer last year.The Filipino Swiftie drag queen dazzling AsiaThe pop star has toured in the Philippines before – but the bag of money from Singapore undoubtedly sweetened the deal, say analysts.Clean, modern Singapore has long been seen as a base in the region for big events. It has the infrastructure, the transport links and a high-earning, expat-heavy population. Image source, EPAImage caption, Swift-themed water and light shows on the bay are among the city’s Swiftie attractions this weekIt’s also seen as reliably stable in a region which has experienced political chaos. A decade ago Swift cancelled her shows in Thailand because of the military coup and resulting protests.Still, while it’s common for governments around the world to give out subsidies and tax breaks to bring in events, the reported spend goes beyond anything else publicly known in Singapore.Samer Hajjar, a marketing lecturer at the National University of Singapore, says it’s “above average” even for the city-state.And fans are quite blunt. “It’s kinda greedy,” says Mr Dunga. “But it’s wise… because their economic response will be way more than that.”But will it be though?Show me the moneyIn Australia, the leg of the tour preceding Singapore, officials suggested the tour had provided a A$145m “uplift” in consumer spending. More than 570,000 tickets were sold across seven nights in Sydney and Melbourne, nearly double the number sold for Singapore’s six shows.But not all of that money counts, says economists.More than 90% of show-goers were probably local, estimates KPMG’s chief economist Dr Brendan Rynne, so their dollars would be “just a transfer from one category of spending (or saving) to another”.Only foreign visitors would have been adding to the books – and they accounted for just 2% of visitors, he estimated. After doing the maths he projected Swift had added only A$10m (£5.1m; $6.5m) to GDP.Still, Australia didn’t use public funds to have Swift play in the country, state government officials confirmed to the BBC. Neither did Japan, the only other Asian stop on the tour.What does Taylor mania mean for the globe? Singapore has said Swift’s tour will bring certain economic benefits to the country.But just how much net gain will be generated is unclear. The BBC has reached out to Singapore’s tourism board but they have refused to reveal foreign visitor estimates or other modelling. A local bank, Maybank, has suggested that consumer spending may top S$350m – but that’s based on the very optimistic prediction of 70% of attendees being from out of town.Even Singapore’s Formula One Grand Prix only saw 49% of spectators from overseas in 2022, with a record 300,000 crowd.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Singapore’s F1 Grand Prix brings thousands of overseas visitors each yearWhen pressed on the numbers, Maybank’s economist Erica Tay could not provide specifics, saying the 70% rate was based on Singapore’s “potential catchment” and the bank was not interested in estimating net profit.”Six concerts may not move a nation’s economic growth materially, but the strategic value of Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Singapore as a tourism destination outweighs that one-off boost,” she said.But business professor Julien Cayla from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University points out that public spend should be scrutinised – especially when it’s only revealed to citizens by another country’s government.And in a country where welfare benefits are relatively limited – it could be seen as a fraught spend.”To justify spending [reportedly] S$24 million on something that on the surface might not seem that critical to the economic health of the country over spending on people and public services… there’s a tension there,” Prof Cayla said.Nonetheless he and others say that when it comes to planning tourism, governments have mandate to throw around money and Singapore isn’t an exception. “They don’t necessarily like to advertise it. But the minute the government sees something that fits into a long-term strategy, it will sink government money in to support that,” he says.In a way, Singapore has just brought in Swift the same way it currently attracts huge multinational corporations.”What’s different here is that Taylor Swift as a business, is a very emotional business,” he said.”It’s dealing with the emotions of 10-18 year olds, who are very sad to not see the concert happening in Bangkok or Jakarta.”And in the words of the songstress herself, that’s caused a lot of bad blood.Related TopicsSingaporeTaylor SwiftAsiaPop musicUnited StatesMore on this storyWhat does Taylor mania mean for the globe?Published12 FebruaryThe Taylor Swift drag tribute dazzling AsiaPublished22 FebruaryWhat’s next for Taylor Swift in 2024?Published27 December 2023Super Bowl most watched US show since Moon landingPublished13 FebruaryDisney boss bets on Taylor Swift and FortnitePublished8 FebruaryTop StoriesHow more than 100 Gazans were killed at a food aid dropPublished5 hours agoSeven hostages killed in Gaza, Hamas saysPublished3 hours agoHow worried is Labour after losing Rochdale?Published8 hours agoFeaturesHow worried is Labour after losing Rochdale?Listen: Sunak’s Surprise Downing Street Speech. 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