Global Courant 2023-04-29 04:56:00
WASHINGTON — Before entering the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat, Robert Kennedy Jr. has for years cultivated the kind of far-right following that now has prominent Donald Trump allies urging the former president to consider Kennedy his running mate.
Kennedy inhabits an ambiguous ideological space. He proudly walks like a Democrat who supports abortion rights and gun control, but his views on vaccines and other issues — and frequent appearances on outlets from Fox News to Alex Jones’ Infowars – have made him popular among far-right conspiracy theorists.
That grassroots work is paying off in the form of widespread praise from conservative media influencers who have been urging their audiences to open up to Kennedy, perhaps eager to use him as a foil against President Joe Biden.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he received a “standing ovation” from a “hardcore MAGA” crowd at a recent speaking engagement for bringing up the idea of a two-way Trump-Kennedy ticket. “Bobby Kennedy would, I think, be an excellent choice for President Trump to consider,” Bannon said this week. on his War Room show.
Roger Stone, the former Richard Nixon aide who was one of Trump’s early political advisers, called Trump-Kennedy a “dream card” on the news program Real America.
Roger Stone in Coral Gables, Florida, in 2017.Joe Raedle/Getty Images file
While Stone said he disagrees with Kennedy on some points, he likes the candidate’s opposition to “globalists” and skepticism of Russia’s continued US support for Ukraine. “He knows a lot about those geopolitical ideas. In fact, he looks a lot like Donald Trump,” Stone said.
Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, on Friday tweeted“I’m really starting to appreciate this presidential candidate’s attitude.”
Charlie Kirk, head of Turning Point USA on April 6 called Kennedy “one of the most eloquent and thoughtful political activists to go after the administrative state.”
A day earlier, conservative talk show host Steve Deace Posted a photo of Kennedy saying on Twitter, “As long as he doesn’t turn trans, a man of high character and courage like RFK Jr. will be seductive.” And QAnon influencer Jordan Sather Posted to Trump’s Truth Social platform and said he hopes “RFK Jr. saves the libs on the vaccine for heaven’s sake”.
While Biden is overwhelmingly favored to reclaim the Democratic nomination, early polls show that a significant portion of the party base is interested in Kennedy — though most mainstream Democratic operatives dismiss that as a product of his recognizable last name.
Kennedy, 69, is the son of the late famous Democratic Senator of the same name and cousin of President John F. Kennedy.
A recent Emerson College poll found Kennedy with 21% of the Democratic vote, while a Fox News poll had him at 19% among Democratic primary voters. Marianne Williamson, the other declared Democratic candidate in the race, had smaller but not insignificant support in both polls.
When asked to comment on the praise from conservatives, Kennedy campaign communications director Stefanie Spear said only, “He’s a candidate for the Democratic nomination.”
Kennedy pushed back reports that Bannon was encouraging him to run for president as a chaos agent against Biden, tweet on April 8: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with my presidential campaign.”
Steve Bannon will leave federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2022.Jose Luis Magana / AP file
That hasn’t stopped Kennedy from receiving praise from right-wing influencers who may be trying to get the scion of the famous political family into a role similar to that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard starred in the 2020 Democratic primary when she made common cause with the law by claiming the primary was rigged against her.
An environmental lawyer by trade, Kennedy has devoted much of his adult life to attacking what he sees as an unholy alliance between the pharmaceutical industry, the government and the media to promote vaccines, which he claims are responsible for autism and other chronic diseases, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence against that theory.
Ignored or fact-checked by mainstream news outlets, Kennedy has found a friendlier reception in contrarian alternative media, which promote alternative medicine alongside UFO conspiracy theories about the CIA, which Kennedy has been blamed for murder his father and uncle.
“I disagree with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on some issues, but he’s a man of integrity fighting fluoride and syringes and fentanyl and everything else. He’s a good man,” says Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracy theorist said on his Infowars broadcast this month. “He’s got a lot of guts and I really support him for the Democratic nomination.”
Alex Jones at the Dirksen Building, in Washington, DC., in 2018.Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP file
Jones and company, recently ordered to pay more than $1 billion in damages to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook massacre for spreading untruths about the 2012 school shooting, have regularly conducted Kennedy interviews. and books and hosted him for several exclusives Job interviews.
“If he pulled out of gun control, which he doesn’t really talk about, and became more pro-life, which he’s starting to do, I’d support him more than most RINO Republicans. So I would actually vote Democrat,” Jones continued. “I mean, I would vote for Trump instead of him or (Florida Gov. Ron) DeSantis, but if he wins the presidency, that’s a classy guy who’s a good man who cares about people and stands against the establishment is. He’s a good man. That is why the whole media is now attacking him.”
A few days later, when a caller told Jones he was surprised how much of Kennedy’s messages resonated with him, Jones replied, “Kennedy is definitely awake and knows what’s going on, and has been listening to the show for a long time.”
“I have been at the forefront of the JFK assassination and Robert F. Kennedy assassination intelligence, and of course always covered it. Well, he knows better than anyone what really happened, so that’ll shake you up a bit when the government kills your father and your uncle.
As hesitation to vaccinate grew among conservatives during the coronavirus pandemic — and as Kennedy was banned from social media platforms for spreading misinformation about the virus — he found a wider audience at more mainstream conservative outlets, where his family association aired of bipartisan credibility to his broadsides against Anthony Fauci, social distancing mandates and his accusations of censorship.
Kennedy was also one of the former Fox News hosts Tucker Carlsons last guests this month. He received what he called a “very friendly introduction” from Carlson, who said he agreed with “most” of what Kennedy said.
After Carlson was fired, Kennedy defended him for a “breathtakingly courageous” monologue against Covid vaccines, suggesting he was fired for “crossing the red line in acknowledging that the TV networks pushed a deadly and ineffective vaccine to please their pharmaceutical advertisers.”
Kennedy’s star only seems to have climbed higher now that he’s in the Democratic primary.
Shortly after the start of his presidential campaign, Kennedy received a warm reception when he was introduced by Breitbart’s Joel Pollak for an interview.
“I know this is a conservative audience, including many Trump supporters, but many of the themes of (Kennedy’s) launch speech were familiar to you and me,” Pollak said.
