RFK Jr., Donald Trump and the Petty Politics of Personal Resentment
Less than a month ago, I fast-forwarded through a campaign commercial for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that pitched him as a Progressive Democrat. That made me angry because even before his recent heel turn, the worst Kennedy was not a Progressive. He wasn’t a Democrat, either. If he were a Democrat, he would support the Democratic candidate for President instead of running a Quixotic independent campaign to become Commander in Chief.
Before it cynically embraced the anti-vax extremist, Trump attacked RFK Jr. for being a dangerous left-wing lunatic. RFK Jr. has indeed proven to be dangerous and a lunatic, but it would be a mistake to call him left-wing.
In April a pro-Trump organization called Make America Great Again Inc. ran an ad dubbing RFK Jr. “Radical F***ing Kennedy” alongside an unflattering image of the Kennedy family’s enduring shame and scary phrases like “Gun Confiscation!”, “Reparations!”, “Fracking Ban!”, “Green New Deal” and “70% Income Tax.”
RFK Jr.’s brand was once environmentalism. He was the green Kennedy who put the environment above all else.
That was a long time ago. RFK Jr’s politics, like those of his new best friend Donald Trump, are less traditionally left or right than the politics of arrogance and personal resentment.
COVID broke RFK Jr. He went from being a respected environmentalist to being a professional anti-vaxer. His brand became anti-vax. The anti-vax brigade are conspiracy theorists because they subscribe to the conspiracy theory that vaccinations are dangerous, even deadly, but the powerful keep this truth hidden from the public for sinister reasons.
This big conspiracy theory inevitably leads to others. After all, if vaccines are dangerous, ineffective, and cause autism and other conditions, then the media, big tech, and the medical establishment all need to be actively colluding to keep this essential information from the public.
To be anti-vax is to be anti-establishment because it is the medical establishment, as well as our educational system, that told the masses to get vaccinated so they wouldn’t die from COVID. RFK Jr. and his followers will never forgive them for that.
RFJ Jr.’s campaign might have pitched him as a progressive Democrat, and Trump might have attacked him for being a Commie, but he was essentially a one-issue candidate in 2024.
He might be to the left of Trump on most issues, but RFK Jr. is to the right of Trump on vaccines. Republicans were happy to overlook every other element of RFK Jr’s politics because they agreed on vaccines and conspiracy theories.
That helps explain why RFK Jr. could have been a Democrat all his career and a member of the premier Democratic political dynasty yet do better with Trump supporters than Biden/Harris voters this time around.
RFK Jr. sought out a meeting with Vice President Harris to discuss an endorsement in exchange for a position in her administration. To her credit, Harris declined this overture, both because it is a clear-cut case of quid pro quo but also because RFK Jr. was extremely unpopular with Democrats even before he ran for president as an independent.
The left saw RFK Jr. as an anti-vax conspiracy theorist who humiliated his famous family with his far-out ideas and repellent personal habits. It takes arrogance to run for president against a sitting president. It’s even more arrogant to run against your party’s incumbent president as an independent because your longtime party despises you.
“Despise” does not seem like too strong a word to describe the left’s attitude towards post-COVID RFK Jr., even before he ran against Biden and then Harris.
The left has held and continues to hold RFK Jr. accountable for his actions and his misdeeds, whereas Republicans happily embraced him after he endorsed Donald Trump.
RFK Jr. sold his soul to Donald Trump because he showed him a level of respect that the Democratic Party did not. Trump was willing to play ball with RFK Jr. in exchange for his endorsement and his voters, which could mean the difference from a victory and a loss.
Trump and RFK Jr. hate many of the same people. They hate the medical establishment and the Democratic establishment, and a media they’re convinced slanders them constantly by accurately reporting what they say and do.
RFK Jr. poignantly and delusionally thinks that if Trump and Biden weren’t illegally colluding against him to keep him away from debates, he’d be our next commander-in-chief. RFK Jr. told supporters that in an “honest system” he would have been elected president instead of polling at three percent and then throwing everything away for the chance to work for the worst boss in the world in a capacity that more or less guarantees that he’ll be lobbing juvenile insults at you and your family after an inevitable falling out.
Because there is something wrong with me, I can’t stop hate-reading the comments on posts about RFK Jr. I was gob-smacked to see supporters saying that RFK Jr. was a genius who had run a brilliant campaign and that endorsing Trump was a bold and righteous move.
I shouldn’t be surprised. RFK Jr. is a paranoid, delusional narcissist whose massive ego has led him to bow down before Trump in the hope that he’ll give him the power and influence he desperately craves.
RFK Jr’s demographic is anti-vax conspiracy theorists who hate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. That’s also Trump’s base.
Kennedy Jr. has disgraced his family by endorsing a monster. I hope this marriage of convenience turns out terribly for the twice-impeached, disgraced ex-president and his new fan if Harris destroys Trump at the polls in November.
RFK Jr. lost his family and his party, but he won the approval of Catturd2. That’s apparently what’s important to him these days.
Nathan needs teeth that work, and his dental plan doesn't cover them, so he started a GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-nathans-journey-to-dental-implants. Give if you can!
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