RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says
Health Secretary's use of aircraft for campaign trips was approved by White House and HHS lawyers.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says
Photograph: Joe.My.God. (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used military aircraft for his travels across the country.
- Kennedy flew on a military jet to join Iowa Republican candidates for campaigning ahead of the midterm elections.
- The White House and lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services approved the plan for Kennedy to use military jets.
- The Washington Post reported the story, citing multiple sources familiar with his travel.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
57/100
Hype
41/100
6 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 6 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was given access to military aircraft for his travels across the country. This included flights to join Republican candidates in Iowa for campaigning ahead of the midterm elections. The White House and lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services signed off on the plan allowing Kennedy to use the jets.
Disagreement on cost
The Daily Beast reported that a commercial flight would have cost $250. Newser stated that an Air Force Gulfstream matching Kennedy's Aug. 17 schedule costs an unspecified amount, but implied it was more expensive than commercial travel.
What the coverage left out
None of the left or centre-rated reports mentioned whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had used military aircraft for any other trips besides the one to Iowa, as suggested by The Washington Post's full report.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 2 times, most recently on 11 Sept 2026, 12:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
5 rated outlets
- Five left-rated reports focused on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s use of military aircraft for travel, including for campaigning with Republican candidates. The Joe.My.God. report, which included the full article from The Washington Post, highlighted that the White House and HHS lawyers approved the plan. It also noted Kennedy's use of the jets for trips to join Iowa GOP candidates. Newser and Raw Story also reported on Kennedy flying a military jet to campaign for Republicans in Iowa. The Daily Beast highlighted the cost difference, stating a commercial flight would have been $250, while implying the military jet was significantly more expensive.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Political Wire led with the fact that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was given access to military aircraft for his travels. It stated this included travel as part of Republicans’ push ahead of the midterm elections, citing The Washington Post.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 83% are rated left, 17% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says biased?
- RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says is one event reported by 6 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered RFK Jr. used military jets for travel, report says?
- 6 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. use military aircraft?
- Yes, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was given access to military aircraft for his travels across the country. This included flights for campaigning purposes.
- Who approved Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s use of military jets?
- The White House and lawyers for the Department of Health and Human Services signed off on the plan that allowed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to use military jets for his travel.
- Where did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fly on a military jet?
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. flew aboard a military jet to join Iowa Republican candidates in that state for campaigning ahead of the midterm elections.
Read it at the source
6 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
5- Report: RFK Jr. Use Military Jets for Campaign Travel (opens Newser in a new tab)
- WH Gives Sec. Brain Worms Access To Military Aircraft (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- RFK Jr.’s Shock $9,000-an-Hour Military Jet Perk Exposed (opens The Daily Beast in a new tab)
The Daily Beast — is The Daily Beast biased? Our profile of this outlet
- RFK Jr. flew on military jet to stump for GOP — the White House signed off: report (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- RFK Jr. uses military aircraft as he campaigns for GOP in midterms (opens The Washington Post in a new tab)
The Washington Post — is The Washington Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
1Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
