RFK Jr.’s office doesn’t know why his defunct campaign bus is still touring the country.
Since late August, one year after Kennedy dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, a campaign bus bearing his image and the words “Kennedy 2024” has been spotted in multiple cities. It has now made its way to Washington, D.C., where locals are complaining about its frequent, seemingly illegal parking jobs, the Boston Globe reports.
However, Kennedy’s office denies that the Health and Human Services Secretary has anything to do with the cross-country trip. An aide told the Boston Globe that Kennedy was “no longer affiliated with the bus.”
Kennedy’s office did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
The vehicle, which is identical to those used by Kennedy during his presidential campaign in 2023 and 2024, was first spotted in Santa Monica, California, in late August. Since then, it’s made stops in Reno, Nevada, Venice, California, Washington, DC, and even Burning Man.
The Kennedy campaign sold the bus in March 2025, according to FEC records. It was later purchased by MAHA Action, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing RFK’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
However, MAHA Action says it’s not behind the cross-country roadtrip, either. The group’s president, Tony Lyons, told the Globe that MAHA Action “does not currently own the vehicle,” but did not clarify whether it was sold, when, or to whom. MAHA Action did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
This is not the first vehicle bearing RFK Jr.’s face and name to pop up in an unexpected locale. In July 2023, two months after Kennedy launched his campaign for president, an RV bearing the slogan “The Remedy Is Kennedy” appeared in Ottawa, Canada.
That vehicle was driven by Kyle Kemper, the younger half-brother of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, and friend of RFK Jr. Kemper drove the bus regularly as late as October 2024, later updating its exterior to feature images of both RFK Jr. and President Trump.
Journalist Tal Kopan, who reported on the campaign bus for the Boston Globe, later clarified via X, “This bus is not the bus that is owned by a person who happens to also be related to Justin Trudeau. That is a different RFK bus.”
Most presidential campaigns don’t purchase their own campaign buses, instead choosing to rent existing vehicles and return them when the campaign is over.
However, the Kennedy campaign not only purchased its own, but sold its bus at a loss. After purchasing the vehicle for $191,000 in July 2023, FEC records indicate that Kennedy’s campaign sold it to a dealership in Wisconsin for just $165,000.
MAHA Action, the bus’s most recent known owner, is not directly affiliated with the HHS secretary, and both the PAC and Kennedy’s office have denied involvement with the vehicle’s recent sightings.
However, whoever is operating the bus does seem to be benefitting from the perceived association. The vehicle appeared to be operating without license plates in recent sightings in Washington DC, which is illegal in the district.
Locals have also taken to X to allege the bus is parking illegally in residential neighborhoods. One D.C. resident revealed via X that when he reported the bus for parking illegally, he received a notice from the Department of Public Works saying that no parking laws were violated because the vehicle was “Director of Health Kennedy Jr.[’s] health tour bus.”
The D.C. Department of Public Works did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Secretary Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race in August 2024, though his campaign continued to accept donations until April 2025, some to support the Trump campaign and some to pay off Kennedy’s campaign debts.
The campaign has remained operational throughout 2025 to continue paying off debt, though a spokesperson told the Globe that the debts have now been paid and campaign operations will wind down by the end of 2025.
