Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has hired Del Bigtree, a prominent skeptic of vaccines, to be his campaign's new communications director.
As founder of the Informed Consent Action Network, Bigtree had worked with Kennedy, who was chair of the well-funded vaccine skeptic group until he stepped down in April to run for president.
Bigtree announced that he was taking the role in a letter to fellow vaccine skeptics, which he refers to as "the medical freedom community," calling for them to unite across the political spectrum.
He also urged his supporters to donate a minimum of $1,000 before Dec. 31 in order to receive exclusive "periodic updates" and "an open Zoom call" once a month.
Kennedy's onboarding of Bigtree means Stefanie Spear, a former editor of Children's Health Defense's news website, will now take the role of press secretary.
"I held the positions of press secretary and communications director with plans of handing off the comms director role once we found the right person for the job," Spear said in an email, NBC News reported.
"We found that person and that's Del Bigtree," she added. "Del brings decades of experience as an Emmy-winning producer, digital assets master, and social media expert, among many other attributes."
The move comes as Kennedy has performed well in preliminary polls for an independent candidate. A recent survey by Suffolk University for USA Today has him at 9.5% of the vote in a seven-way ballot race.
Kennedy initially launched his campaign as a Democrat challenger to President Joe Biden. However, he became an independent in October after claiming the party was preventing him from having a fair chance.
"The Democrats are frightened that I'm going to spoil the election for President Biden, and the Republicans are frightened that I'm going to spoil it for [former President Donald] Trump," Kennedy said at the time. "The truth is, they're both right. My intention is to spoil it for both of them."