Last year marked the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, and despite widespread public skepticism surrounding the official narrative of the case and legislation mandating transparency, there are still 4,700 documents related to the case that are partially or heavily redacted.
The assassination of Kennedy has remained an enduring mystery in the public imagination. A live operator interview poll of 2,000 voters commissioned by the Mary Ferrell Foundation, an organization dedicated to maintaining records related to the assassination, found that only 38% of Americans believed that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Gallup polling since 1963 has consistently found this skepticism to be widespread.
The ongoing debate about the release of the JFK documents has made its way into the 2024 presidential election. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Kennedy’s nephew, who is known for pushing conspiracy theories that are outside of the mainstream — has long been outspoken about his disbelief in the official narrative surrounding his uncle’s death. In July of this year, former President Donald Trump posted an interview on Truth Social of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticizing President Joe Biden’s decision to block the complete release of remaining documents.
“When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents,” Trump wrote. “It’s been nearly 60 years, time for the American people to know the TRUTH!”
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Jefferson Morley, a writer who has chronicled the events surrounding Kennedy’s assassination and is vice president of the nonpartisan Mary Ferrell Foundation, said the group — which pushes for more disclosures about the events surrounding Kennedy’s death — “did not expect JFK’s assassination to be an issue in the 2024 election. But it is and it doesn’t surprise us.”
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