Kennedy Spreads Child Trafficking Conspiracy Theory at GOP Convention

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spread a conspiracy theory blaming the Biden administration for creating a “child trafficking ring” during his primetime speech Thursday evening at the Republican convention in Dallas.

RFK Jr.’s speech came on the second night of a two-day convention aimed at boosting the GOP’s flagging midterm hopes with just two months to go before voters hit the polls. He attacked Democrats onstage over a misreading of data from the DHS inspector general that Republicans have used to claim that Democrats created a system that aided child traffickers.

"During the Biden administration, HHS became a collaborator in child trafficking for sex and for slavery, and we have ended that," Kennedy claimed. “They turned our federal government into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history.”

In reality, Kennedy’s remarks refer to figures released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finding that just over 300,000 migrant children either failed to show up for immigration court hearings, or did not receive their notices to attend court whatsoever. This does not mean that all 300,000 children immediately fell into the hands of traffickers, nor does it mean that the federal government was trafficking any children at all, but it does mean that they were “at higher risk for trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor,” per the HHS report.

"We're very aggressively going out and trying to find these 300,000 children that were lost by the Biden administration," promised the secretary.

The promise from Kennedy comes as the Trump administration has sought to use its mass deportation agenda as a selling point for midterm voters. The economy remains top of mind for Americans and the White House has sought to use its efforts to deport hundreds of thousands of both undocumented immigrants and those pursuing legal residence through normal means to stem those concerns by telling Americans that prices on housing, food and other parts of the economy will come down with fewer immigrants in the country.

Prices on gasoline remain at the highest point of Trump’s second presidency and at their highest point since the height of the Covid-era fuel crisis, a result of the administration’s war with Iran. Those costs have spread around the economy, driving up food costs as well as rates for other goods and services.

Kennedy’s efforts have met criticism in this area, as his agency’s laying off of food inspectors and other personnel has taken the blame from Democrats for outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.

The secretary also attacked his Democratic friends who he said called him a “fool” for trusting the president, and claimed that Trump had upheld every single promise he’d made to his Health secretary, a one-time independent presidential candidate who ended his campaign and endorsed Trump in 2024 upon being promised the position of HHS secretary or a similar job overseeing America’s public health response.

As HHS secretary, Kennedy has been given free rein to question longstanding scientific consensus on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, and to spread unproven theories about the causes of autism. He has also championed more bipartisan initiatives, like moving away from processed food.