On August 19th, the Facebook user Tornike Sokhumeli shared a post, which allegedly includes a quote from John F. Kennedy’s November 12th, 2963 speech:
“Ladies and gentlemen, the very word secrecy is inherently against open and free society. Our nation, by nature, has historically opposed secret societies, secret orders, and closed gatherings. All over the world we are facing a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that seeks to expand its influence on the earth to carry out its own ideas by covert means. Instead of free elections, it changes governments. This system has immeasurable human and material resources. They created a powerful and efficient “machine” that carries out military, diplomatic, economic, scientific and political operations. Their activities are secret and closed to the public. Their mistakes are hidden, and the system is being established with stealth. Ancient Greece had a law forbidding citizens from avoiding public debate. I ask for your help on this important issue of raising awareness and warning the American people. I am confident that with your help, people will become what they were born to be, free and independent.“
The post claimed that Kennedy tried to neutralise the Illuminati, and for this very reason, on November 22nd, 1963, ten days after the speech, he was murdered by the secret organisation. The post is accompanied by the picture of Kennedy and the Illuminati symbol.
The quote published by Tornike Sokhumeli is fabricated, and it does not belong to Kennedy. No open-source contains an identical statement made by the 35th president of the United States. The speech made on November 12th, 1963, can not be found in the archives of the Kennedy library. Parts of the quote are being taken from Kennedy’s speech from April 27th, 1961; nonetheless, Kennedy referred to the threat coming from the Soviet Union and not from the Illuminati. The claim that the Illuminati murdered Kennedy is a conspiracy theory.
The alleged quote of Kennedy cannot be found in any open source. All of Kennedy’s speeches and addresses can be found on the webpage of the JFK Presidential Library and Museum. The website shows no records of Kennedy’s November 12th, 1963 speech.
The webpage of the University of California, Santa Barbara that archives all the addresses, letters and decrees issued by the U.S. presidents contains only one letter dated November 12th, 1963; nonetheless, the letter concerns railways and does not mention any secret societies.
The quotes about the “efficient machine” and secret societies used in the post are taken from Kennedy’s April 27th, 1961 address, where Kennedy talked about the issues of press freedom and preservation of national secrets with the American Newspapers Publishers Association.
| The quote allegedly said by Kennedy On November 12th, 1963 | Quotes from the April 27th, 1961 Address |
| “Ladies and gentlemen, the very word secrecy is inherently against open and free society. Our nation, by nature, has historically opposed secret societies, secret orders, and closed gatherings. All over the world we are facing a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that seeks to expand its influence on the earth to carry out its own ideas by covert means. Instead of free elections, it changes governments. This system has immeasurable human and material resources. They created a powerful and efficient “machine” that carries out military, diplomatic, economic, scientific and political operations. Their activities are secret and closed to the public. Their mistakes are hidden, and the system is being established with stealth. Ancient Greece had a law forbidding citizens from avoiding public debate. I ask for your help on this important issue of raising awareness and warning the American people. I am confident that with your help, people will become what they were born to be, free and independent.“ | “The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it.” |
| “For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations.” | |
| “Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.” | |
| “No President should fear public scrutiny of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary. I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed.” | |
| “And so it is to the printing press–to the recorder of man’s deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news–that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.” |
The accurate quotes demonstrate that Kennedy was not referring to the Illuminati but the threat coming from the USSR during the Cold War. The same address has been spread on social media without context or with a deceiving description in the past as well. For more, see the article of “Myth Detector:”
- Masons or Communists? – What Threat did John Kennedy Speak About in 1961?
The disinformation about Kennedy revealing conspiracies days before his death has been disseminated previously as well. “Myth Detector” has an article covering the whole story. See:
- Christians Who Believe in Bible Disseminate a Fake Quote by John Kennedy
The claim that Kennedy was murdered by the Illuminati is a conspiracy theory since there is no official proof. Conspiracies regarding Kennedy’s death have been circulating among the public since the 1960s.
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