The Politics of JFK in the 2024 Election

Three contenders with three positions on the last of the assassination files

I never expected the last of the JFK assassination files to be an issue in the 2024 presidential election. But I’m not surprised they are.

The causes and the meaning of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have resonated in American politics and popular culture for 60 years. Recent revelations about the CIA’s manipulation of the accused assassin, the nature of JFK’s wounds, and the confession of a Secret Service agent have stoked public interest while undermining, if not refuting, key aspects of the official theory that JFK was killed by a lone gunman.

Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien’s popular podcast “Who Killed JFK?” rejected the official story altogether, weaving together a convincing depiction of JFK’s assassination as a coup orchestrated by four senior CIA and military officers who are named in the podcast. It is worth noting that Reiner and O’Brien’s findings have not been contradicted by fact-checking organizations or the CIA itself.

“Who Killed JFK?” has been downloa…