Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on media: what the evidence says · JRE #1999
SUBJECT: MEDIA
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
Most of the booksellers wouldn't sell it. Like the independent booksellers, Barnes & Noble, took it out of most of their stores. They wouldn't sell it in most of their stores.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The strong sales of 'The Real Anthony Fauci' (2021) are well-documented: publisher marketing and bestseller lists credit it with over a million copies sold within months. The specific claim here, that Barnes & Noble and most independent booksellers pulled or refused to carry the book, is not corroborated by independent, non-Kennedy-affiliated reporting; that allegation traces mainly to Children's Health Defense, an organization Kennedy founded and chairs, rather than neutral third parties. Independent reporting on a later, related Kennedy book found that some individual independent bookstores did decline to stock his work, but the owners quoted cited business reasons, such as waning reader interest in pandemic-themed titles, or disagreement with his content, not a coordinated boycott, and that book remained available online through major retailers including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. No mainstream fact-checking organization or wire service has substantiated a claim of large-scale, coordinated removal of 'The Real Anthony Fauci' from most Barnes & Noble or independent bookstore locations.
Evidence sources 03 / EXHIBITS
Who Benefits
Kennedy is the author of 'The Real Anthony Fauci' and financially benefits directly from its sales; his claim of censorship by booksellers concerns a book from which he personally profits.