Singer-songwriter and guitarist Eric Clapton and his band raised $2.2 million by performing at a private fundraiser in support of US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2024 election and he will be challenging US President Joe Biden. He is a well-known vaccine sceptic.

Of the total proceeds raised, $1 million is meant for the campaign and $1.2 million for a political action committee or PAC supporting Kennedy, according to an official statement. The performance was held at a private estate in Brentwood near Los Angeles.

The tickets for the event were priced at $3,300-6,600.

“I sometimes think that in our divided society, it is music rather than any kind of intellectual agreement that has the most potential to bring us together again. Eric sings from the depths of the human condition. If he sees in me the possibility of bringing unity to our country, it is only possible because artists like him invoke a buried faith in the limitless power of human beings to overcome any obstacle,” Kennedy said.

Also Read: US Election 2024: Nikki Haley only Republican presidential aspirant who can defeat Joe Biden, says CNN poll

Clapton is among the celebrities, including Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines, Alicia Silverstone, Rob Schneider, Woody Harrelson (who later brushed off the claims of endorsing Kennedy), who have been outspoken about their support for Kennedy.

Clapton, just like Kennedy, is a vaccine sceptic, and has often talked about suffering an adverse reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine. While Clapton has been writing anti-vax songs, the presidential candidate had said during a dinner in New York that there is an "argument" that COVID-19 is "ethnically targeted." COVID-19 targets Caucasians and Black people while sparing Ashkenazi Jewish people and Chinese people, he said.

Also Read: Mitt Romney, former GOP Presidential nominee, bows out of reelection race

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Sept 20, 2023 7:05 PM IST