Did the Rothschilds kill John F. Kennedy? That’s what One Nation Senator and resident conspiracy theorist Malcolm Roberts appears to be suggest. Yesterday, at Crikey’s invitation, Roberts was happy to explain the role of the Rothschilds, the famous Jewish banking family, in the global climate change conspiracy — although he doesn’t like using the word “conspiracy”, despite hosting a media event in which an American climate denialist and Sandy Hook truther outlined a plot by environmentalists to use CO2 to invent a global threat. In his 2013 screed against the CSIRO, one of Roberts’ central obsessions is with “privately owned central banks” controlled by international financiers like the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers, which, while sadly fictional, is a core element of the “Jewish financier” myth. And these “privately owned central banks will apparently stop at nothing to protect themselves”. So sayeth Roberts, quoting US conspiracy theorist and alternative medicine advocate Ellen Brown:

“Ellen Brown details the history of American banking. She and others name influential American politicians who opposed America’s first, second or third [current] central bank. Many were negated through smear campaigns or died in suspicious circumstances. American presidents have been assassinated in conjunction with their attempts to stop or dismantle central banking.”

Roberts then goes on to quote JFK:

“’The high office of President has been used to foment a plot to destroy the American’s freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight.’ Quoting President John F. Kennedy, speaking at Columbia University, 10 days before his assassination.”

Alas, Kennedy never said any such thing. He wasn’t even at Columbia University on November 12 — public records show he was at the White House. Nor was he at Columbia any time in 1963. Perhaps that’s why, if you google that quote, the date appears to move around by several years. Who knows, maybe the Rothschilds killed Kennedy by mistake. Maybe Roberts can hold a media conference with some wingnuts to clarify.