Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to suggest that mass shootings in the U.S. are linked to antidepressants and video games in a resurfaced clip from a January interview.
The conspiracy theorist, in a video shared by Democratic strategist Keith Edwards, called on the National Institutes of Health to look into “the etiology” of gun violence in an interview with TRT World’s Tim Constantine.
“NIH needs to be studying them to see if there’s connections to some of the SSRI and psychiatric drugs people are taking, or there’s connections to video games,” Kennedy said in an appearance on the Turkish state broadcaster’s “Capitol Hill Show.”
His campaign previously shared a clip of the interview that highlights a Mayo Clinic definition of SSRIs ― a category of antidepressants ― and footage of kids playing video games.
Experts have found no “scientifically established” causal link between psychiatric drugs and mass shootings, PolitiFact noted in 2019.
There’s also no evidence to support the claim that violent video games cause mass shootings, experts told CNBC that year.
Critics ripped Kennedy over his suggestion, including Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg.
“Wow I had no idea America was the only country with anti-depressants and video games,” Hogg wrote.
You can check out more reactions to Kennedy’s suggestion below.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
