Robert Kennedy Jr. reports income of $7.8 million

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the political scion and prominent vaccine skeptic who is challenging President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, reported income of $7.8 million in the year prior to entering the race, including nearly $1. 6 million of his consulting work for a personal injury law firm known for its lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.

The details came in a financial disclosure form filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission. It shows that Mr. Kennedy earned $5 million from his environmental law firm, Kennedy & Madonna, and a salary and bonus of $516,000 as chairman and lead attorney for Children’s Health Defense, a non-profit he founded that campaigns against vaccines. (The disclosure says he’s been on leave from the organization since April, when he announced his campaign.)

Mr. Kennedy, a leading skeptic of vaccines and prescription drugs, has gained a foothold in the race, even as he has distorted facts about vaccine development and public health authorities and increasingly embraced conservative figures and causes.

His support among Democrats has risen to 20 percent in polls, although a more recent Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll in June put his Democratic support in New Hampshire at 9 percent. He also appealed to potential voters outside the party: A Survey from Quinnipiac University found in June that 40 percent of Republicans viewed him favorably, compared to 31 percent of independents and 25 percent of Democrats.

Friday was also the last day of second-quarter fundraising for the presidential race. Mr. Kennedy’s campaign sent out requests asking donors to help him meet a $5 million goal by the end of the day. His campaign highlighted a $1 million loot in the 24 hours leading up to Friday’s final push.

Official figures will be available in two weeks, when the campaign reports are submitted to the FEC

On his disclosure form, Mr. Kennedy reported nearly $1.6 million in consulting fees from Wisner Baum, a Los Angeles-based personal injury law firm formerly known as Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman. The company’s website lists him as a co-lawyer in pending lawsuits over Gardasil — an HPV vaccine manufactured by Merck — as well as lawsuits over Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer and California wildfires.

Mr. Kennedy also reported $150,000 in consulting fees from the Marwood Group, which describes itself as a health care consulting firm based in New York. And he reported $125,000 from Skyhorse Publishing, which publishes his books and, according to the disclosure, pays him as a consultant.

Dennis Kucinich, Mr. Kennedy’s former congressman and campaign manager, said the revelation “speaks for itself”.