A former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign staffer and self-described “senior advisor” to the health secretary posted twice on social media recently implying that she can provide special access to Kennedy — if she gets something in return.
Angela Stanton King, who served as the Kennedy presidential campaign’s adviser for Black engagement until her reportedly contentious departure last April, now runs a pregnancy resource center, Auntie Angie’s House. She has maintained a personal relationship with Kennedy — she met with him as recently as last month.
In an April post on X, Stanton King spelled out her response to questions asking for her help getting things from the Trump administration and Kennedy, from navigating the pardon process to making connections with the secretary or getting jobs at HHS.
“ME: Will you help me with Auntie Angie’s House?” she wrote. “Are you willing to hire me as a consultant? What’s the benefit for me if I give my favor to you?”
When another X user replied asking “do you always have to expect something in return,” Stanton King replied, “I’ve been helping my community for over 20 yrs. Those that are financially able need to help me help them.”
And in a video posted to King’s Instagram and TikTok accounts, Stanton King danced above the words “when someone asks if I can connect them with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” to a song with the lyrics “we can make some arrangements.” The video caption read “maybe,” along with the plug emoji. The video was posted in late April and has since been deleted.
Until recently, Stanton King’s X bio described her as a “senior advisor” to Kennedy. It has since changed to “POLITICAL ADVISOR & CONSULTANT | TRUMP | KING | KENNEDY”.
When initially approached for comment in late April about her posts, Stanton King responded by blocking a NOTUS reporter on X and Instagram. Stanton King agreed to a phone interview with NOTUS last week, during which she said that she had been an adviser to Kennedy since his campaign and now advises him on maternal health issues. She said that she did not have a formal role at HHS and that her relationship with Kennedy was a personal one. When asked about her consultant work, Stanton King said that it was “the same thing as advising.”
“I get hired to consult,” Stanton King said, before abruptly ending the two-minute-long call.
In a text message conversation on Tuesday, Stanton King said that she didn’t have time to discuss her personal relationship with Kennedy or “baseless allegations,” and that no one has ever paid her to connect them with Kennedy.
“You’re looking at a Tik Tok trend. I make viral videos all the time,” Stanton King wrote. “Why not report on my organization that helps mothers and children?”
In response to a question about what she meant by her post on X about how she responds to people who ask her for aid getting connected to Kennedy, Stanton King wrote, “This tweet means exactly what it says. Perfect example: I just asked you will you write an article on my organization? Why can’t I ask you for help if you’re asking me?”
“Chances are you’re not willing to write a positive article on me or my organization. But you’re looking for dirt on me and from me to dish on me and my friend Bobby,” she wrote.
“I’m like a child to Bobby. I’ll always have access to him. It has nothing to do with HHS,” Stanton King wrote. “Maternal health is apart of making america healthy that’s my lane.”
An HHS official told NOTUS in an email in late April that Stanton King is not employed by the agency and “does not have any role in decision making.”
But that statement was called into question by a subsequent post on X by Kennedy featuring a photo of him and Stanton King. Kennedy wrote that HHS met with Stanton King to “discuss maternal health and infant mortality rates in Georgia.” HHS did not respond to a follow-up request this week for comment on Kennedy’s post, or about Stanton King’s influence at the department.
Stanton King posted photos from inside HHS’s headquarters in April, writing, “I’m deeply committed to understanding the maternal health crisis and delivering real, effective solutions—just like @seckennedy and the HHS.” While serving on Kennedy’s presidential campaign, Stanton King publicly pressured Kennedy to oppose abortion access.
Kennedy was advertised as an honoree at a May event hosted by Stanton King’s pregnancy resource center, although it was not clear whether the health secretary actually attended the event. HHS did not respond to questions about Kennedy’s involvement with Stanton King’s organization.
Jenny Mattingley, vice president of public affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, told NOTUS private citizens like Stanton King are free to say whatever they want, including offering to help people get access to government figures for money. In that regard, her apparent public offer for consulting services would make her no different than the lobbyists who work on behalf of organizations to influence government officials and lawmakers (although lobbyists are generally required by law to publicly disclose for whom they lobby and on what specific issues).
But Stanton King’s parallel role as an adviser to Kennedy complicates things because it gives her a degree of access to the secretary that most lobbyists could only wish for. It also presents a potential conflict for Kennedy, who campaigned on a platform of getting “corporate influence” out of the federal health agencies. And unlike private citizens, government officials are typically bound by ethics rules and conflict of interest guidelines.
“These are leaders of major organizations that are serving the American public,” said Mattingley. “I think people would have serious questions if there was some sort of pay-to-play model.”
“The American people deserve a regulatory body free from corporate influence and perverse incentives that have compromised its mission for far too long,” Kennedy wrote on X about the Food and Drug Administration after Marty Makary was confirmed as its commissioner.
“The onus would be on the folks employed by the government to make sure they’re following those rules appropriately. When they don’t follow those rules… There’s all sorts of mechanisms to hold those folks accountable,” Mattingley said, including the Office of Special Counsel and inspectors general. (Trump has fired at least 17 inspectors general across the federal government since January.)
Besides her relationship with Kennedy, Stanton King has long been a supporter of President Donald Trump: He pardoned her in 2020 for a 2007 conspiracy conviction related to her role in a stolen-vehicle ring, and she later supported his claims of a rigged election. Stanton King herself unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. House seat in Georgia in 2020.
Trump has not been shy about making himself available for deep-pocketed fans. He headlined a $1-million-a-head dinner for a super PAC early last month, and will reportedly meet one-on-one with business leaders for $5 million.
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Margaret Manto is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.