Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was once seen as the political heir apparent to the Kennedy dynasty.
Instead, when news broke that Kennedy is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, liberals just laughed. Not so many years ago, Kennedy’s decades of environmentalism and tragic personal story as the son and nephew of assassinated political figures would have made him a formidable candidate for office.
Over the last several years, he has squandered that political goodwill with a campaign against vaccines. These efforts made him popular among the anti-vaxxer set, who also tend to lean to the hard right. It also made him a pariah among most Democrats and led his own family to publicly denounce his anti-vax views.
Although his family is historically Democrats, Kennedy has become something of a mainstay in right-wing and conspiracy theorist media enthralled by his anti-vaccine rhetoric and opposition to people like Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Steve Bannon reportedly spent months convincing him to run for president. Given Bannon’s unflagging support for former President Donald Trump, it’s highly unlikely Bannon did so out of a sincere belief that Kennedy can win.
To many, Kennedy’s recent history and far-right alliances make him more likely to win a race as a Republican.
Prominent liberals immediately mocked Kennedy’s plan to go against President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. They don’t seem to believe he’d have a chance of securing the nomination even if there wasn’t a Democratic incumbent on the ticket.
Liberal attorney Ron Filipkowski joked, “I have never looked forward to ignoring anything as much as the RFK Jr. for President campaign.”
Jon Cooper, whom the Daily Beast once described as a “Biden superfan,” said he would never vote for someone who is “chummy” with Mike Flynn and Roger Stone.
Filmmaker Arlen Parsa also believes there’s no chance Kennedy will beat Biden in the primary. “The real danger here is that RFK Jr. gets substantial national airtime in a debate to spread his crackpot anti-vaxxer misinformation,” Parsa tweeted.
“RFK Jr. has NO plan to become president. He just wants to cause confusion and get a bigger platform to spout his antivax/anti-Black stupidity,” another Twitter user commented. “That’s why he’s not running as a Republican.” (Kennedy was widely criticized for releasing a video that attempted to convince Black people not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.)
But conservatives and conspiracy theorists applauded Kennedy’s run for office. To them, he’s something of a hero.
QAnon follower Ann Vandersteel wrote approvingly, “Game on.” One of her Telegram subscribers said perhaps he’d become former President Donald Trump’s running mate “to unite the country.”
Conservative influencer Robby Starbuck believes that “old JFK Democrats” will become Republicans after “they see how the new Democratic Party treats RFK Jr.” It’s unclear how many of those are left, as President John F. Kennedy Jr. was assassinated 60 years ago.
Right-wing Telegram channel the Patriot Voice also suggested that Kennedy will lose the Democratic nomination but that his supporters will vote for the Republican presidential candidate in the general election. “RFK Jr. is a Dem, but also a TRUTH TELLER that has a great respect from the MAGA movement,” it wrote.
Political dirty trickster Roger Stone approves of Kennedy’s run. Eric Hananoki of Media Matters posted a clip of Stone saying, “I’m a great admirer of Robert Kennedy. He’s a friend of mine.” Stone doesn’t believe Kennedy can win, but thinks he will “soften Joe Biden up” so Trump can beat him.
Kennedy plans to formally launch his campaign on April 19.
Correction: This post originally misidentified Mike Flynn.
