RFK Jr. campaign event to be moderated by conspiracy theorist with history of anti-Semitism

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his vice presidential nominee, Nicole Shanahan, will attend a campaign event Wednesday hosted by self-described journalist Ian Carroll, who has spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in recent months.

As recently as July 24, Carroll posted on X that “our country is controlled by an international criminal organization that grew out of the Jewish gang and now hides in modern Zionism behind slogans of ‘anti-Semitism.’ But make no mistake, it is an international organized crime syndicate and it has complete control over Washington.”

Carroll has also repeatedly claimed that Israel has manipulated Holocaust history for its own benefit.

On March 4, he said that the Holocaust had happened, but that “Israel has certainly done its best since then to embellish and inflame the history books that tell the story.” He further suggested that Holocaust denial was invented by Israel to “discredit people who start asking too many questions.”

On February 11, he claimed that the Holocaust “has certainly been milked to the limit by modern Zionist interests,” adding that neither the Allies nor the Nazis were “good guys” in World War II, which he said was “orchestrated by big banking powers.”

The virtual Kennedy campaign event, announced on Kennedy’s campaign website, will focus on artificial intelligence. Pia Malaney, associate research director at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, will also be a panelist. The Kennedy campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Carroll told JI that he is not being paid by the campaign to moderate the event and that he has no other affiliation with the campaign. He said that moderating the event “does not in any way mean that I agree with everyone on the panel, or that the panelists agree with me. That is the fundamental nature of debate and discussion.”

Carroll also claimed that “Israel committed 9/11” and that the modern Democratic Party “is run by the CIA and the Mossad.” He also suggested that Jews control the media.

In May, Carroll shared a self-produced two-and-a-half-hour video titled “Evidence of a Zionist Mafia – How Israel Controls US and World Politics,” which featured an image of a Star of David over the US Capitol, alongside photos of three former US presidents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, convicted pedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein, and former Epstein client Les Wexner.

Carroll said in a conversation about that video that he had used the term “Zionist mafia” as a replacement for “Jewish cabal.”

And he has addressed claims that Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, could be involved in this alleged Jewish conspiracy. He suggested that it was suspicious that she had been married to three Jewish men and said he would investigate the matter further, although he said more “mundane explanations” were more likely. Shanahan has previously been a guest on Carroll’s podcast.

Kennedy personally expressed strong support for Israel during the campaign, repeatedly rejecting calls for a ceasefire.