Aaron Rodgers believes in 'medical freedom, informed consent' and is voting for Robert Kennedy Jr. in 2024 presidential election

When Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19 almost two years ago, no one likely could have predicted what would come next.

It was a development that, according to him, made him cast out to be "a villain," and it set the stage for him to become one of the leading celebrities for those skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines.

From his home in Green Bay while recovering from the virus in early November 2021, he gave an infamous interview on "The Pat McAfee Show" in which he invoked Martin Luther King Jr., called out the "woke mob," touted the controversial and unproven-for-to COVID-19 drug ivermectin, and blasted the NFL over its "draconian" health and safety policies.

Those comments, not surprisingly, made him a popular figure in some political circles. But a few days after that interview, he went on McAfee's show again for his usual Tuesday appearance and said he didn't want to get involved in politics.

"I'm an athlete. I'm not an activist," Rodgers said Nov. 9, 2021, on "The Pat McAfee Show," the go-to platform for the former Packers quarterback the last four years. "I'm going to get back to doing what I do best and that's playing ball."

After missing one game due to the NFL's COVID-19 policies that season for unvaccinated players, Rodgers did continue playing ball and he did it quite well, going on to winning his fourth MVP.

However, now near the end of 2023, with Rodgers out of action as he recovers from a torn Achilles as a member of the New York Jets, he has been getting involved in politics by promoting his candidate of choice to millions of viewers: Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., also known as RFK Jr.

"I believe in medical freedom and informed consent, and I'm voting for Robert Kennedy Jr.," Rodgers said as he signed off from his nearly one-hour appearance Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show."

What is Rodgers' connection to Kennedy? Here's what we know about Rodgers' views on politics and RFK Jr. from previous interviews.

What has Aaron Rodgers said about politics in the past?

When the 2021 season ended for Rodgers and the Packers after an upset loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional round at Lambeau Field, he went on McAfee's show and called politics "a sham."

Rodgers said during the time he was blasting the NFL over its health and safety protocols and losing an endorsement from a local health care provider, he never set out to be "divisive" or "polarizing" and understood he's a role model for many.

"I don't want to be a politicized person," Rodgers said on "The Pat McAfee Show" in late January 2022. "I don't want my views bolstering the anti-vaxxers and triggering the vaxxed people. I want to be somebody who has an opinion, who shares it, who does research, but who is also open to hearing both sides."

Rodgers unsuccessfully tried to get around the NFL's vaccine protocols in 2021 after crafting a 500-page report to say why his homeopathic treatments constituted as being "immunized."

What has Aaron Rodgers said about Joe Biden?

One "side" that he did get into a feud with was President Joe Biden.

In December 2021, Biden told a woman wearing a Packers hat in Kentucky during a visit to the state following a devastating tornado to "tell that quarterback he's gotta get the vaccine."

The White House also responded to Rodgers' statements a month earlier about the pandemic, saying it is "against misinformation."

Rodgers responded. In a lengthy interview with ESPN heading into that playoff loss to the 49ers, he ripped the president.

“When the president of the United States says, ‘This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,’ it’s because him and his constituents, which, I don’t know how there are any if you watch any of his attempts at public speaking, but I guess he got 81 million votes,” Rodgers said.

Who is Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. or RFK Jr.?

Robert FrancisKennedy Jr. is Rodgers' choice for president. Who is he?

Kennedy, 69, is the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy and one of 11 children to the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated as he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.

RFK Jr. was 14 years old when his dad was killed.

Kennedy is an environmental lawyer who launched his candidacy for president of the United States earlier this year. He recently dropped his Democrat presidential bid but re-entered as an independent.

Former President Donald Trump has called RFK Jr. "a very smart guy and a very good guy."

What has RFK Jr. said about COVID-19 vaccines?

RFK Jr. is part of the prominent Kennedy family. But after his anti-vaccine comments over the years, he's been denounced by many family members.

In an editorial written by two of his siblings and a niece in POLITICO, they wrote following a measles resurgence in 2019 that they love RFK Jr. but that he has "helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines."

He has claimed that vaccines cause autism (there is no connection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and had his Instagram suspended two years ago for "repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.” Kennedy also erroneously linked former Milwaukee Braves and Brewers legend Hank Aaron's death in early 2021 as part of a "wave of suspicious" fatalities among elderly who received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Children's Health Defense, the nonprofit that he founded, has an anti-vaccine message. Its mission is to fight "corruption, mass surveillance and censorship that put profits before people as well as advocate for worldwide right to health freedom and bodily autonomy.”

Kennedy also wrote a book two years ago titled "Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health."

RFK Jr. said his presidential campaign is "largely misunderstood," according to a USA TODAY story published in June.

Why is Aaron Rodgers constantly referring to RFK Jr.?

Rodgers' views about "medical freedom" and vaccine skepticism align with RFK Jr.

Over the last couple of years, Rodgers has consistently referenced RFK on social media and interviews.

Earlier this month, Rodgers said he wanted to team with RFK to get in a vaccine debate against Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who also was the chief medical adviser to the president in 2021 and 2022.

Kelce is in a commercial encouraging people to get COVID-19 and flu vaccines; Fauci helped lead the country during the COVID-19 pandemic across the Trump and Biden administrations. Rodgers has called Kelce "Mr. Pfizer" and has called Fauci "a pharmacrat."

Meanwhile, Rodgers has called RFK Jr. "my man."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Why Aaron Rodgers is voting for Robert Kennedy Jr. in 2024 election