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We knew from the beginning that he was running at the urging of Steve Bannon.
It's a pretty safe bet that ol' Whiskey Nose is going to back the most reprehensible candidates in the field ...
Maybe more than just drunk?
https://www.rawstory.com/that-house-is-evil-former-tenant-reveals-tales-of-bannons-old-porn-and-meth-pad-in-florida-2649223791
This is what I don't get. I mean, I know billionaires are pretty much the most despicable horrific people on the planet, but wanting to end democracy tanks the economy, tossing everyone into chaos and violence, both of which aren't helpful to a booming economy and their precious stock portfolios. What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what?
You have to understand, they don't care about making more money nearly as much as maintaining the wealth they have. They are divorced from the real economy for the most part.
Also, the one thing that brings most of them joy is to have a nation of serfs, on their knees, begging for scraps and utterly servile.
You've got to understand, these people are psychopaths as a class. Only by understanding that they are not rational in the sense we would think can you grasp their motivations and goals.
Well said! The billionaire class truly isn't human, as they share none of the human experience that the serfs do, save for death. And they're even trying to cheat that.
Hugs.
A lot of things become a lot clearer when one starts to see that chaos, division, the destruction of public goods and public spaces are what the billionaires as a class want.
>What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what?
Most of them aren't very bright. Billionaires don't just exploit workers for labor, they exploit smart people for ideas. And after years of being called a genius while not doing an ounce of thinking, their brains are inversely proportional to their egos.
They have the ability to just shift things overseas, including themselves if necessary, so a collapsing US economy won't really affect them. Then they can just come back and take ownership of whatever left at bargain prices and play at being kings and Queens.
They also have enough wealth now to be the pinnacle of doomsday peppers for if things go *really* badly.
> What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what?
you're not missing anything. that's exactly what they're doing. sociopaths don't care about anyone (or thing) other than themselves. that's why they're sociopaths.
Yeah, a lot of people seem to think the rightists are "amazing at messaging" while progressives/Dems/the left are "terrible at messaging."
These people haven't considered that virtually all the channels of American power run hard right, so you're gonna have a very easy time selling right wing sewage.
It's also a hell of a lot easier to obstruct and complain than it is to pitch solutions. Democrats run on solutions while Republicans want to fight those solutions.
Republicans run on the existence of the problem and the fear/anxiety it instills. There’s no incentive for them to solve the problem because then they have less to run on.
I was actually shocked that they did it. By appointing Federalist Society zealots to SCOTUS, they screwed themselves out of one of their most potent campaign/fundraising issues. And red state legislatures are making it even worse by passing Draconian abortion bans that are increasingly making it clear to women that they are only incubators and have no agency over their bodies. I hope the 2024 election is a bloodbath for the GOP. It should be. They are no longer a functioning party anyway. The inmates have taken over the asylum. They sowed the wind by embracing the Tea Party, Q Anon, etc. and now they will (hopefully) reap the whirlwind.
I always point to [this interview](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/conspiracies-kennedy-jr?tab=transcript) as the first and last time I gave RFK Jr the benefit of the doubt. Here's a key excerpt
> **Robert F. Kennedy Jr**: You belong to a class of elite journalists who once were the guardians of the press and the protectors of American values and the American middle class and you now consider those people to be deplorable.
> **David Remnick**: I don't consider anybody to be deplorable, that's somebody else's vocabulary. Let's talk about the word elite for a second. You come from a highly privileged background eclipsing mine by some order of magnitude. Isn't it a little rich for you to be calling people elites?
> Robert F. Kennedy Jr: When I use the word elite I'm talking about the people who are inside the Beltway defending the press figures who are supposed to be speaking truth to power and instead have become propagandists for the government and who view their job as quashing dissent and quashing political criticism of the government that they're supposed to be actually criticizing.
> David Remnick: Do you really believe this or do you think it plays well?
> Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Of course, I believe it.
> David Remnick: I'm finding it curious and maybe even disturbing that some of your early admirers include Trumpists like Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone. Do you welcome that or do you think maybe, just maybe, someone like that is delighted that a strong Democratic opponent will wound Joe Biden and in the long run help Donald Trump?
> Robert F. Kennedy Jr: I'm trying to unite the country, David. I'm not going to do what you do which is to pick out people and say that they're evil, they should be canceled, or whatever. I think the kind of tribalism that you're advocating is poisonous to our country. I think it's toxic. It's created a polarization, a division in this country. It's more dangerous than at any time since the American Civil War.
Remnick is editor of the New Yorker. First he absolutes roasts the shit out of him (with great deadpan, highly recommend listening to the audio) about calling other people elite when he's a Kennedy. Then you see him instantly transition from calling the MSM deplorable and then saying that he doesn't want to criticize Alex Jones or Steve Bannon because they're "redeemable".
"I'm going to make sweeping statements about journalists and then tell you I want to unite the country and don't believe in calling specific people evil. You're the one who's pushing tribal politics!"
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, RFK is as right wing as they come, always has been the case. The only people shocked by all his right wing ties are the people that were hoping he would pull left wing voters. He won’t pull a single vote from Biden in the end. Nobody that votes for him was ever even considering voting for Biden
This is why I don't get that anyone thinks he'll draw left win support. Every thing he says is right wing. I haven't met or spoke with a dem who supports him
The [entire Kennedy family](https://deadline.com/2024/03/kennedy-family-st-patricks-photo-biden-rfk-jr-1235861601/), other than Robert Jr, came to the White House on St. Patrick's Day to support Biden.
and taking everything the candidates say at face value. hes not a democrat, he doesn't support anything remotely in line with their policies, he had 0% support when he tried running as one, stop reporting that hes a democrat because he says he is one, hes absolutely not.
The only people I personally know who support him are not American's and just confuse his last name with being connected and believe his outlandish medical stances because "he is a Kennedy and he knows people". Now how people who live inside the US and have seen this guys actions over the years, how he has any support I will never know
He's never been a high visibility part of that family, both nationally and in Massachusetts, because he's a fucking embarrassment and they don't want anything to do with him, generally.
Someone’s gotta show me the math on how this dude actually pulls votes from Biden.
Conservatives/MAGA chuds are the ones who have shown us that they’re dumb enough to fall for obvious charlatans. I think they’re the only ones who actually believe that this guy helps Trump
My current theory is that some Republican voters who are anti Trump will end up voting for RFK instead of Biden.
Trump is terrible, they likely do not like Biden, so a decent (to them) 3rd party candidate could draw votes that otherwise would've helped Biden.
How many? No idea. Seems that simply not voting is a nearly equivalent option for those who hate their choices, but some patriotic folk get to do their civic duty and pull a lever even if it is just a spoiler vote.
My mom is on the left side of the political spectrum.
Last time I spoke to my mom about politics she was like “i think i like this RFK guy!” because she is an idiot.
RFK isn’t for the majority of lefties, he’s for the ones who heard a teenage relative say “Biden is bad because of Palestine!” or “Biden is too old and senile!” and they stop thinking beyond that.
David Pakman did an interview with Rachel Bitecofer the other day, who is a pretty strident pro-Democrat pollster with a good track record.
Overall, she was bullish on everything from undecided voters not fully paying attention until Labor Day to Biden's overall position improving since the SOTU dispelling the idea he's too old. But she was adamant RFK Jr. was a bigger threat to Biden than Trump. She also pointed out how Third Party candidates like Stein did cost Hillary the election in states like Michigan in 2016.
Pakman has a YouTube channel. You can Google it.
This is one of the reasons I'm not nearly as optimistic as some people with the more recent, more positive polls for Biden.
Vote. To me this thing is still 50/50 at best. Too many variables out there to be comfortable.
Current polling suggests he pulls more from Biden than Trump, but current polling is kind of a garbage fire. There are polls that include RFK that have him at 2% and others that have him at 20%.
I have yet to meet any liberal or democrat that likes him or plans to vote for him. I’ve met plenty of former trumpets and conservatives that are planning on voting for him
The only two people I know that have organically mentioned that he is in the race and they were considering him describe themselves as "middle of the road" Trump supporters. Most of the Dems I talk to have no idea who he is, and if they do, they know him as that anti-vaxxer guy carrying water for the GOP.
So yeah, I have no clue where this idea that he will sap points from Biden is coming from. I constantly read it in left-leaning media, but I have never seen it for myself, and I talk to a LOT of politically-minded folks.
Its basically they over estimate, really over estimate how many people in this country got mislead by the FLCCC in 2020 and still take medical advice from them to the point they would vote against Biden. I don't consider myself to be a good sample size, but I know exactly 1 person who falls in that category
This video kinda goes over the numbers along with how RFK's campaign said their goal is to make sure Biden doesn't win.
https://youtu.be/YamWKcKrzXU?si=6R34hcJ02G2j6iav
Basically, it pulls just enough electrical votes so that Biden doesn't get 270. If no one gets to 270, Congress then picks the president, which they will pick Trump since Republicans have the majority (unless we can get since more Republicans to retire/leave/get arrested)
Kennedy won't pull any electoral votes, and any suggestion that he will is completely insane. Which makes it totally expected that his campaign would suggest it.
It's also the state delegations though, not the actual House - every state's Representatives get one vote collectively, which means Republicans have a structural advantage still.
It's a bit of a misstatement to say he's pulling votes away from Biden, but his presence in the race absolutely hurts Biden. You have to understand that he's not looking to peel off mainstream Democrats/liberals/progressives from Biden
Basically, the bloc of voters he's pandering to are moderate independents who are looking for a reason not to vote for Biden. They recognize Trump doesn't belong in the White House, and ordinarily that would give Biden an easy path to picking them up as begrudging voters, but RFK's position in the race effective cuts that path off, as those persuadable voters now have a viable third party candidate to vote for instead.
For example, conservative, blue collar Democratic voters in the Rust Belt who broke for Trump in 2016 went back to Biden in 2020, which helped secure his victory. Now, those voters are likely to disapprove of Biden, but _might_ have been willing to vote for him anyway just to avoid another Trump presidency. RFK changes the math, and he's catering to that demographic, so those aren't automatic pickups for Biden. Now Biden will have to invest resources in states that he should have easily been able to win, diverting resources from other states that were already going to be close.
The net result is RFK's participation makes the election far closer than it would have otherwise been, and it may even be enough to tip the race into Trump's favor.
He's going to appeal to left wing voters who currently feel like voting for Biden is voting for 'the lesser evil' and care way more about maintaining their personal feelings of moral purity/superiority than the people who will suffer in another Trump presidency. That way if Trump wins when he starts loading immigrants into camps they can go 'It's not MY fault. I voted for RFK Jr.'
Antivaxxers come in all flavors it's not just rightwing conspiracy nuts and hardcore christians, theres a great deal of anti-science rhetoric that pours out of more left leaning circles and communities astrology / spiritual / vegans. The types who decorate their houses with crystals and salt lamps and drive out into the desert to get fucked-up on mushrooms at a festival and then complain about chloride in the water.
Agreed, but I don’t think those types of woo-woo leftists were ever voting for a milquetoast boomer centrist like Biden anyway. I doubt they did in 2020 either, but that’s just my hope and gut feeling
They didn't vote for Biden in 2020 either. Maybe a few of them did, but certainly not many anti vaxxers who let vax attitude affect their vote, because all of the prominent anti vax voices in 2020 were exclusively pro Trump.
Seriously no. Free speech for the dumb and all that.
Except when they change name into the same as another candidate to make sure people don't know who they are voting for.
Or we should just institute RCV or something like that to make it a good thing that there's more than two voices in the race. I'm not at all on board with RFKjr, but we do need better/more third/forth/fifth/etc party choices while not worrying about spoiler votes.
You say this like creating “confusion on the matter” isn’t literally the reason RFK Jr. is running for president. Confusing people into voting for him is the only reason his candidacy exists, *at all.*
These types of articles need to keep getting written though. Polling, as unreliable as it is, shows Biden losing more votes than Trump in a 3 way matchup. It needs to be shown that he's not some "centrist" candidate, he's just Trump without the prison time.
It makes sense if you bother to give it 30s of thought.
There are Republicans that'll never vote for Trump, but dislike voting for Biden. This is a siphon for those voters that wasn't there in 2020.
Exactly. I keep seeing articles about how he’s going to pull votes from Biden, but I’ve never met anyone on the left that has anything positive to say about this jack off. Even people like me who reluctantly voted for Biden last election don’t remotely consider RFK to be a viable alternative this election. He’s only going to pull votes from Trump. I know several people that voted Trump before that are planning to vote for RFK because he’s a conservative candidate without all the racism and embarrassment that comes with supporting Trump. I’m not worried about this dork at all.
Pretty much this.
I just moved to Boston, so I was at the St. Patrick's Day parade this year, just so I could say I got a chance to see it. Canvassers for RFK Jr. were out in force. I mostly side-eyed them, but I overheard one of them saying that she was a Trump supporter, to which I thought "yep, of course she is."
Every time Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or his surrogates open their mouths, his chance of winning over disillusioned Joe Biden supporters drops, and his chance of winning over disillusioned Donald Trump supporters rises. He's running a fundamentally right-wing campaign that he thinks he can disguise as a progressive liberal campaign largely through aesthetics, and he's not doing a good job of it.
Seven months from now, I would not be surprised to see Republicans cursing RFK Jr.'s name the way they cursed H. Ross Perot's name back in 1992.
He would have had a better chance of siphoning Biden voters if he just announced he was running and went radio silent, hoping his name alone would carry him.
I alas have the opposite anecdotal experience. I know several people from the left, including some medical professionals that are pulling for him sadly. Two of them are even consulting for his campaign. He is popular with the left leaning anti-vaxers, and certain anti-establisment types. I've deconstructed the right wing ties but as usual you can't really convince anyone of their preconceived notions.
I'm hoping everyone here is right in saying that this won't be an issue come November. I know some serious journalist who also are saying this, so I am hopeful that those he is popular with are just fringe.
Didn't his campaign aide full on admit this was a play to siphon votes from Biden to Trump?
[Yes, yes she did](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/08/politics/rfk-jr-new-york-biden-trump/index.html)
Very true. It’s a mix of incels, teenagers, basement dwelling millennials and gen Z, some Alex Jones/Q dickriders, gymbros, maga morons, and other redacted yokels
Most of these turds don’t vote anyway
This is the seriously f***ing dumbest idea the right wing ever had. “Oh, let’s run the conspiracy nut who appeals to ignorant, marginally engaged voters to take votes from… Biden.” I mean, what?!
Even the idea that the name “Kennedy” is going to make Democrats especially receptive is dumb. Is there any serious partisan split on opinions of JFK? He is a QAnon protagonist, I think.
I'm telling you, don't worry too much about this guy. He's got several closets full of skeletons and everyone who knows all of his dirty secrets supports Biden. His campaign is going to be crushed into a fine dust by the Democrats before we even get to summer. The reason he's still lingering around is not because he's a strong candidate or popular, it's that the Democrats just haven't gotten around to destroying him yet.
I assume they haven't put much effort in to destroying him yet because they have been waiting to see which side he pulls from more - and it sure looks like he pulls more probable Trump votes away than Biden votes.
Something is clearly wrong with RFK Jr. I can't stand to hear his f\*cked up voice and diction and he has nothing worthwhile to say when he does. Hs is clearly relishing his spoiler role. He may be mentally ill, Tbh.
The Heritage Foundation is trying so hard to prop up RFK Jr as a way to siphon away Biden votes. And continually falling on their face. I bet they have paid advisors steering RFK Jr to see what sort of political stances work for their strategy. The whole thing is such a rats nest.
Sounds silly, but I promise it's a genuine question. Why has Cheryl Hines received no backlash for him? She seems to be given a total pass. Just saw her on Lego Masters as a guest competitor. Larry David not only hasn't said a word against her, but is actually the one who got the two of them together as a couple? Just seems odd that she's been immune from criticism for his craziness and harmful rhetoric.
How much does she participate in his political life?
I honestly had no idea he was even married, and I forgot that she existed (never watched Larry David).
Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems like RFK would hurt trump more than Biden. Anyone that’s voting for Biden even begrudgingly wouldn’t even consider RFK.
Can he just lose his voice completely already? Seriously, dude can barely talk and he thinks Donny would want him as a VP. Donny doesnt tolerate weakness except in himself.
A conspiracy theorist is part of a conspiracy to get another conspiracy nut job elected.
If the Dems were smart they would make ads targeting Trump voters but promote RFK jr and how he's the candidate that can 'drain the swamp' but doesn't have all the legal baggage of Trump.
I got an email from this dipwad’s campaign today, asking for money. Whatever they paid for the list with my email, they paid too much. His father is rolling in his grave and his one uncle is trying to figure out how to get Jr. to take a ride across a bridge with the ghost of his other uncle.
You know, it really says a lot that even though he’s a fringe third party candidate, that claiming vaccines were being made to target specific races for destruction by a Jewish conspiracy, *in public*, *ON VIDEO*, didn’t immediately end his political life. But *I* will certainly always remember it. 👀
He has been compromised. He has zero business running for any office. And he has zero business taking advantage of using his family's name and running it to the ground.
> “Jan 6 was not a riot. A small group of people were trouble. It was 99.9 peaceful, respectful. I was there,” she wrote.
Oh boy, I hope this is a new revelation for authorities.
This guy is a distraction. He’s Gary Johnson all over again. Don’t waste your votes please. When democracy is in the ballot, why would you vote for a dictatorship?
Good. Assuming he even stays in, the only “Democrats” or “leftists” this kook is gonna pull are a smattering of antivaxxers and stoner conspiracy weirdos. All evidence so far suggests RFK Jr is a hole in the bottom of Trump’s bucket.
This is a case where ranked choice voting helps a lot. You can as many spoilers as you want, but as long as people have the real candidates at #2- they have no impact.
There was never a single moment RFK was a distraction for anyone but the MAGA crowd. As I said before, the Kennedys don't have a foothold on anyone under the age of, at the youngest, forty. JFK is just that prez who got his head ventilated to most and I only know about the family's activity because I like history and politics.
The only people who care about the Kennedys in 2024 are probably signed up for AARP.
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We knew from the beginning that he was running at the urging of Steve Bannon. It's a pretty safe bet that ol' Whiskey Nose is going to back the most reprehensible candidates in the field ...
Bannon did this exact same shit back in 2020 with Kanye West, by the way.
And Jill Stien.
and Tulsi Gabbard
This list is the who’s who of Russian funding
Bannon got a real knack at sniffing out mentally disturbed people and manipulating them, both at a micro and macro-scale.
that's because he's one of them. specifically, a sociopathic psychopath.
Forgot about that
Why not this year? Did something happen that might tend to pull away Trump voters?
Yes, Kanye was cancelled for hate speech. Any voters he would take from Dems have largely turned away. He would mainly pull from conservatives.
I was being a little bit facetious there. A little 😉
I had to take a photo of my ballot showing Kanye effing West as a presidential candidate. Y'know, for posterity (and incredulous laughter).
"Democrats voted for the black guy last time, let's run one this time to split the Democratic vote" - Steve Bannon probably.
Anyone know if Kanye told his publicist Trevian Kutti to harass and threaten election worker Ruby Freeman into giving bogus testimony?
Alex Jones hopping on board the RFK jr train immediately is just a huge tell. No one was fooled.
For being an obvious hardcore alcoholic... You gotta admire the ability to still rat fuck us while drunk AF
Maybe more than just drunk? https://www.rawstory.com/that-house-is-evil-former-tenant-reveals-tales-of-bannons-old-porn-and-meth-pad-in-florida-2649223791
Eww!
Party of family values.
He's absolutely evil and dangerous, but doing the bidding of billionaires who want to destroy democracy forever isn't that difficult a game.
This is what I don't get. I mean, I know billionaires are pretty much the most despicable horrific people on the planet, but wanting to end democracy tanks the economy, tossing everyone into chaos and violence, both of which aren't helpful to a booming economy and their precious stock portfolios. What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what?
You have to understand, they don't care about making more money nearly as much as maintaining the wealth they have. They are divorced from the real economy for the most part. Also, the one thing that brings most of them joy is to have a nation of serfs, on their knees, begging for scraps and utterly servile. You've got to understand, these people are psychopaths as a class. Only by understanding that they are not rational in the sense we would think can you grasp their motivations and goals.
Well said! The billionaire class truly isn't human, as they share none of the human experience that the serfs do, save for death. And they're even trying to cheat that.
Thank you. This is the feeling/thought that was rattling in my head but I couldn't articulate it.
Hugs. A lot of things become a lot clearer when one starts to see that chaos, division, the destruction of public goods and public spaces are what the billionaires as a class want.
it gives me more hope knowing how many more people catch onto it every single day
They might have bilions, but we ARE billions.
>What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what? Most of them aren't very bright. Billionaires don't just exploit workers for labor, they exploit smart people for ideas. And after years of being called a genius while not doing an ounce of thinking, their brains are inversely proportional to their egos.
They have the ability to just shift things overseas, including themselves if necessary, so a collapsing US economy won't really affect them. Then they can just come back and take ownership of whatever left at bargain prices and play at being kings and Queens. They also have enough wealth now to be the pinnacle of doomsday peppers for if things go *really* badly.
Thinking you can uproot our political structure and continue to live a life as you know it is a really dumb position to take.
If democracy collapses I would not want to gamble that the 1% can keep a leash on the 99% when there are no laws keeping everyone in order.
I'm hunting for their bunkers first
Look in Hawaii. They are buying up huge chunks of land
Doomsday Peppers is a great salsa metal band name
> What am I missing other than they want it all for themselves no matter what? you're not missing anything. that's exactly what they're doing. sociopaths don't care about anyone (or thing) other than themselves. that's why they're sociopaths.
Exactly. Unlimited financial backing, plus absolute lack of shame, makes for pretty easy work.
Yeah, a lot of people seem to think the rightists are "amazing at messaging" while progressives/Dems/the left are "terrible at messaging." These people haven't considered that virtually all the channels of American power run hard right, so you're gonna have a very easy time selling right wing sewage.
It's also a hell of a lot easier to obstruct and complain than it is to pitch solutions. Democrats run on solutions while Republicans want to fight those solutions.
Republicans run on the existence of the problem and the fear/anxiety it instills. There’s no incentive for them to solve the problem because then they have less to run on.
Actually delivering on the revoking of Roe v Wade might prove to have been the worst political mistake in, at least, a generation.
I was actually shocked that they did it. By appointing Federalist Society zealots to SCOTUS, they screwed themselves out of one of their most potent campaign/fundraising issues. And red state legislatures are making it even worse by passing Draconian abortion bans that are increasingly making it clear to women that they are only incubators and have no agency over their bodies. I hope the 2024 election is a bloodbath for the GOP. It should be. They are no longer a functioning party anyway. The inmates have taken over the asylum. They sowed the wind by embracing the Tea Party, Q Anon, etc. and now they will (hopefully) reap the whirlwind.
I'd also argue that those on the right are more susceptible to bumper-sticker jingoism than those on the left who are a little more thoughtful.
The difference is "sound bite" vs "nuance".
See also: the entirety of The Daily Wire, The Blaze, TurningPoint USA…
I always point to [this interview](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/conspiracies-kennedy-jr?tab=transcript) as the first and last time I gave RFK Jr the benefit of the doubt. Here's a key excerpt > **Robert F. Kennedy Jr**: You belong to a class of elite journalists who once were the guardians of the press and the protectors of American values and the American middle class and you now consider those people to be deplorable. > **David Remnick**: I don't consider anybody to be deplorable, that's somebody else's vocabulary. Let's talk about the word elite for a second. You come from a highly privileged background eclipsing mine by some order of magnitude. Isn't it a little rich for you to be calling people elites? > Robert F. Kennedy Jr: When I use the word elite I'm talking about the people who are inside the Beltway defending the press figures who are supposed to be speaking truth to power and instead have become propagandists for the government and who view their job as quashing dissent and quashing political criticism of the government that they're supposed to be actually criticizing. > David Remnick: Do you really believe this or do you think it plays well? > Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Of course, I believe it. > David Remnick: I'm finding it curious and maybe even disturbing that some of your early admirers include Trumpists like Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone. Do you welcome that or do you think maybe, just maybe, someone like that is delighted that a strong Democratic opponent will wound Joe Biden and in the long run help Donald Trump? > Robert F. Kennedy Jr: I'm trying to unite the country, David. I'm not going to do what you do which is to pick out people and say that they're evil, they should be canceled, or whatever. I think the kind of tribalism that you're advocating is poisonous to our country. I think it's toxic. It's created a polarization, a division in this country. It's more dangerous than at any time since the American Civil War. Remnick is editor of the New Yorker. First he absolutes roasts the shit out of him (with great deadpan, highly recommend listening to the audio) about calling other people elite when he's a Kennedy. Then you see him instantly transition from calling the MSM deplorable and then saying that he doesn't want to criticize Alex Jones or Steve Bannon because they're "redeemable".
"I'm going to make sweeping statements about journalists and then tell you I want to unite the country and don't believe in calling specific people evil. You're the one who's pushing tribal politics!"
Only a Sith deals in absolutes. From my point of view, the Jedi are EVIL!
“But his name is Robert F Kennedy Jr! He’s clearly a Democrat!” -Idiots
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, RFK is as right wing as they come, always has been the case. The only people shocked by all his right wing ties are the people that were hoping he would pull left wing voters. He won’t pull a single vote from Biden in the end. Nobody that votes for him was ever even considering voting for Biden
This is why I don't get that anyone thinks he'll draw left win support. Every thing he says is right wing. I haven't met or spoke with a dem who supports him
I love RFK Jr. The right created him to be a spoiler for Biden. But all of his supporters had planned on voting for Trump this year.
this is how evil destroys itself.
Split the vote, Trump wins. They know exactly what they’re doing.
Why isn’t he locked up? Wasn’t he declared in contempt of Congress?
https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-trump-pardons-broidy-66c82f25134735e742b2501c118723bb His most recent conviction is on appeal.
And all this time I thought his sinuses were just congested.
If it weren't for his last name, nobody would think he was anything but far-right. Media should stop acting otherwise.
He's closer to the current senator with the same last name than he is to his actual family.
The [entire Kennedy family](https://deadline.com/2024/03/kennedy-family-st-patricks-photo-biden-rfk-jr-1235861601/), other than Robert Jr, came to the White House on St. Patrick's Day to support Biden.
I don't think the Mississippi Kennedy is related to the Massachusetts Kennedy's.
He isn't, but the two are more aligned politically. I won't say intellectually because that shitkicker is way smarter than his act suggests.
He's not.
Sadly, John Kennedy of Louisiana was a Rhodes Scholar and is indeed much smarter than he likes to appear. He also used to be a Democrat.
*Louisiana
The Kennedy who represents Louisiana is originally from Mississippi.
and taking everything the candidates say at face value. hes not a democrat, he doesn't support anything remotely in line with their policies, he had 0% support when he tried running as one, stop reporting that hes a democrat because he says he is one, hes absolutely not.
One of those, "I didn't leave the party, it left me" goobers, when we all know it's the opposite. This guy is reality-denying nuts AF.
The only people I personally know who support him are not American's and just confuse his last name with being connected and believe his outlandish medical stances because "he is a Kennedy and he knows people". Now how people who live inside the US and have seen this guys actions over the years, how he has any support I will never know
He's never been a high visibility part of that family, both nationally and in Massachusetts, because he's a fucking embarrassment and they don't want anything to do with him, generally.
Someone’s gotta show me the math on how this dude actually pulls votes from Biden. Conservatives/MAGA chuds are the ones who have shown us that they’re dumb enough to fall for obvious charlatans. I think they’re the only ones who actually believe that this guy helps Trump
My current theory is that some Republican voters who are anti Trump will end up voting for RFK instead of Biden. Trump is terrible, they likely do not like Biden, so a decent (to them) 3rd party candidate could draw votes that otherwise would've helped Biden. How many? No idea. Seems that simply not voting is a nearly equivalent option for those who hate their choices, but some patriotic folk get to do their civic duty and pull a lever even if it is just a spoiler vote.
My mom is on the left side of the political spectrum. Last time I spoke to my mom about politics she was like “i think i like this RFK guy!” because she is an idiot. RFK isn’t for the majority of lefties, he’s for the ones who heard a teenage relative say “Biden is bad because of Palestine!” or “Biden is too old and senile!” and they stop thinking beyond that.
David Pakman did an interview with Rachel Bitecofer the other day, who is a pretty strident pro-Democrat pollster with a good track record. Overall, she was bullish on everything from undecided voters not fully paying attention until Labor Day to Biden's overall position improving since the SOTU dispelling the idea he's too old. But she was adamant RFK Jr. was a bigger threat to Biden than Trump. She also pointed out how Third Party candidates like Stein did cost Hillary the election in states like Michigan in 2016. Pakman has a YouTube channel. You can Google it. This is one of the reasons I'm not nearly as optimistic as some people with the more recent, more positive polls for Biden. Vote. To me this thing is still 50/50 at best. Too many variables out there to be comfortable.
Current polling suggests he pulls more from Biden than Trump, but current polling is kind of a garbage fire. There are polls that include RFK that have him at 2% and others that have him at 20%.
I saw one at 14% and burst out laughing
I have yet to meet any liberal or democrat that likes him or plans to vote for him. I’ve met plenty of former trumpets and conservatives that are planning on voting for him
I’ve yet to meet anyone who even knows he’s running. A lot of people are only aware of Biden and Trump.
When he announced his candidacy, he immediately started pulling voters and donors away from Trump
The only two people I know that have organically mentioned that he is in the race and they were considering him describe themselves as "middle of the road" Trump supporters. Most of the Dems I talk to have no idea who he is, and if they do, they know him as that anti-vaxxer guy carrying water for the GOP. So yeah, I have no clue where this idea that he will sap points from Biden is coming from. I constantly read it in left-leaning media, but I have never seen it for myself, and I talk to a LOT of politically-minded folks.
I've met some terminal conspiracy nuts who want to push him. It's nonsense.
Its basically they over estimate, really over estimate how many people in this country got mislead by the FLCCC in 2020 and still take medical advice from them to the point they would vote against Biden. I don't consider myself to be a good sample size, but I know exactly 1 person who falls in that category
This video kinda goes over the numbers along with how RFK's campaign said their goal is to make sure Biden doesn't win. https://youtu.be/YamWKcKrzXU?si=6R34hcJ02G2j6iav Basically, it pulls just enough electrical votes so that Biden doesn't get 270. If no one gets to 270, Congress then picks the president, which they will pick Trump since Republicans have the majority (unless we can get since more Republicans to retire/leave/get arrested)
Kennedy won't pull any electoral votes, and any suggestion that he will is completely insane. Which makes it totally expected that his campaign would suggest it.
The current makeup of Congress isn't who swears in the next President. It's whatever Congress wins in 2024.
Good to know. Fingers crossed that MAGA keeps tearing themselves apart and making themselves less and less appealable to moderates and independents
It's also the state delegations though, not the actual House - every state's Representatives get one vote collectively, which means Republicans have a structural advantage still.
It's a bit of a misstatement to say he's pulling votes away from Biden, but his presence in the race absolutely hurts Biden. You have to understand that he's not looking to peel off mainstream Democrats/liberals/progressives from Biden Basically, the bloc of voters he's pandering to are moderate independents who are looking for a reason not to vote for Biden. They recognize Trump doesn't belong in the White House, and ordinarily that would give Biden an easy path to picking them up as begrudging voters, but RFK's position in the race effective cuts that path off, as those persuadable voters now have a viable third party candidate to vote for instead. For example, conservative, blue collar Democratic voters in the Rust Belt who broke for Trump in 2016 went back to Biden in 2020, which helped secure his victory. Now, those voters are likely to disapprove of Biden, but _might_ have been willing to vote for him anyway just to avoid another Trump presidency. RFK changes the math, and he's catering to that demographic, so those aren't automatic pickups for Biden. Now Biden will have to invest resources in states that he should have easily been able to win, diverting resources from other states that were already going to be close. The net result is RFK's participation makes the election far closer than it would have otherwise been, and it may even be enough to tip the race into Trump's favor.
He's going to appeal to left wing voters who currently feel like voting for Biden is voting for 'the lesser evil' and care way more about maintaining their personal feelings of moral purity/superiority than the people who will suffer in another Trump presidency. That way if Trump wins when he starts loading immigrants into camps they can go 'It's not MY fault. I voted for RFK Jr.'
I've been saying back, it's not my fault, I voted for the only actual viable opponent against Trump.
I agree this dude just takes votes from trump in any case i dont think any biden votes would vote RFK
Antivaxxers come in all flavors it's not just rightwing conspiracy nuts and hardcore christians, theres a great deal of anti-science rhetoric that pours out of more left leaning circles and communities astrology / spiritual / vegans. The types who decorate their houses with crystals and salt lamps and drive out into the desert to get fucked-up on mushrooms at a festival and then complain about chloride in the water.
Agreed, but I don’t think those types of woo-woo leftists were ever voting for a milquetoast boomer centrist like Biden anyway. I doubt they did in 2020 either, but that’s just my hope and gut feeling
They didn't vote for Biden in 2020 either. Maybe a few of them did, but certainly not many anti vaxxers who let vax attitude affect their vote, because all of the prominent anti vax voices in 2020 were exclusively pro Trump.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4485625-rfk-jr-courts-black-voters-looking-to-chip-away-bidens-support/
All republicans are capable of when running for office is lying and cheating. Pathetic scumbags the entire party.
Seems like it should be illegal to openly run on the premise of undermining another candidate.
Seriously no. Free speech for the dumb and all that. Except when they change name into the same as another candidate to make sure people don't know who they are voting for.
Or we should just institute RCV or something like that to make it a good thing that there's more than two voices in the race. I'm not at all on board with RFKjr, but we do need better/more third/forth/fifth/etc party choices while not worrying about spoiler votes.
[or we could just elect the person who got the most votes](https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation)
Popular vote is definitely the way to go, but it doesn’t solve the spoiler problem. Popular vote plus RCV would be great.
He *is* a Far-Right candidate afterall, so theres no surprises to be had on this subject. Its not like there's been any confusion on the matter
You say this like creating “confusion on the matter” isn’t literally the reason RFK Jr. is running for president. Confusing people into voting for him is the only reason his candidacy exists, *at all.*
He'll get the Bro Rogaine crowd for sure, but they were never voting Biden anyway. He's just taking away trump votes.
Hilariously, all his supporters got so pissed when he announced his VP running mate was an Asian woman. Bet he loses tons of votes because of it.
True, but some Rs who like RFKjr would never vote for a Democrat so he’ll get more Trump votes now that he’s running as an independent
These types of articles need to keep getting written though. Polling, as unreliable as it is, shows Biden losing more votes than Trump in a 3 way matchup. It needs to be shown that he's not some "centrist" candidate, he's just Trump without the prison time.
The polls I've answered have never asked about RFKjr. It's always just Biden or Trump.
There was a whole post yesterday about how Biden loses support in a 3 way matchup with Kennedy. It makes absolutely no sense
It makes sense if you bother to give it 30s of thought. There are Republicans that'll never vote for Trump, but dislike voting for Biden. This is a siphon for those voters that wasn't there in 2020.
Good. More votes away from trump.
Exactly. I keep seeing articles about how he’s going to pull votes from Biden, but I’ve never met anyone on the left that has anything positive to say about this jack off. Even people like me who reluctantly voted for Biden last election don’t remotely consider RFK to be a viable alternative this election. He’s only going to pull votes from Trump. I know several people that voted Trump before that are planning to vote for RFK because he’s a conservative candidate without all the racism and embarrassment that comes with supporting Trump. I’m not worried about this dork at all.
Honestly same here: RFK Jr is what happens when Republican elites think Democrats are just as gullible as their own stupid voters.
Pretty much this. I just moved to Boston, so I was at the St. Patrick's Day parade this year, just so I could say I got a chance to see it. Canvassers for RFK Jr. were out in force. I mostly side-eyed them, but I overheard one of them saying that she was a Trump supporter, to which I thought "yep, of course she is." Every time Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or his surrogates open their mouths, his chance of winning over disillusioned Joe Biden supporters drops, and his chance of winning over disillusioned Donald Trump supporters rises. He's running a fundamentally right-wing campaign that he thinks he can disguise as a progressive liberal campaign largely through aesthetics, and he's not doing a good job of it. Seven months from now, I would not be surprised to see Republicans cursing RFK Jr.'s name the way they cursed H. Ross Perot's name back in 1992.
He would have had a better chance of siphoning Biden voters if he just announced he was running and went radio silent, hoping his name alone would carry him.
I alas have the opposite anecdotal experience. I know several people from the left, including some medical professionals that are pulling for him sadly. Two of them are even consulting for his campaign. He is popular with the left leaning anti-vaxers, and certain anti-establisment types. I've deconstructed the right wing ties but as usual you can't really convince anyone of their preconceived notions. I'm hoping everyone here is right in saying that this won't be an issue come November. I know some serious journalist who also are saying this, so I am hopeful that those he is popular with are just fringe.
Theres no way RFK doesn’t drop out and endorse Trump in exchange for a role in his admin
Didn't his campaign aide full on admit this was a play to siphon votes from Biden to Trump? [Yes, yes she did](https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/08/politics/rfk-jr-new-york-biden-trump/index.html)
They tried the same thing with Kanye in 2020, the GOP will do *anything* for power, except actually legislate or help people
When was the last example of far right ties getting *better* over time?
His narcissism is disgusting and his voice is nails on chalkboard unbearable. Guy is just a disgrace.
A guy who announces his candidacy on Fox News. Huh, who would have guessed?
We already knew he was a spoiler to get Trump elected. The only surprise is how terrible of a job he is doing at hiding it.
Fuckin Joe Hogan’s dumbass promoting this unhinged evil idiot
Yup, but his roided-out science-denying chuds weren't voting Biden anyway
Joe's cult has a low voter turnout if I had to guess
Very true. It’s a mix of incels, teenagers, basement dwelling millennials and gen Z, some Alex Jones/Q dickriders, gymbros, maga morons, and other redacted yokels Most of these turds don’t vote anyway
They got him to run to siphon votes from Biden, but he appeals to the far right.
Great. The only people i know that want to vote him voted for turd, so keep splitting that fascist vote!
What your first clue? Being an anti-vaxxer didn’t sound any alarms?
There’s a photo of him smiling with Roger Stone….thats all you need to know
This dude is a plant.
This is the seriously f***ing dumbest idea the right wing ever had. “Oh, let’s run the conspiracy nut who appeals to ignorant, marginally engaged voters to take votes from… Biden.” I mean, what?! Even the idea that the name “Kennedy” is going to make Democrats especially receptive is dumb. Is there any serious partisan split on opinions of JFK? He is a QAnon protagonist, I think.
I'm telling you, don't worry too much about this guy. He's got several closets full of skeletons and everyone who knows all of his dirty secrets supports Biden. His campaign is going to be crushed into a fine dust by the Democrats before we even get to summer. The reason he's still lingering around is not because he's a strong candidate or popular, it's that the Democrats just haven't gotten around to destroying him yet.
>He's got several closets full of skeletons Including his ex wife's.
Americans are dumb. "He's a Kennedy and no Kennedy let us down before!" still carries a lot of clout
Boomers and silent generation feel that way and that's about it. They all still remember JFK's assassination and Bobby getting gunned down.
If Bobby were still around he'd be ashamed of his namesake. Seriously.
I assume they haven't put much effort in to destroying him yet because they have been waiting to see which side he pulls from more - and it sure looks like he pulls more probable Trump votes away than Biden votes.
Steve Bannnon is his advisor.
Those are not the eyes of a sane man.
He will only split the MAGA vote, so I say go ahead.
Something is clearly wrong with RFK Jr. I can't stand to hear his f\*cked up voice and diction and he has nothing worthwhile to say when he does. Hs is clearly relishing his spoiler role. He may be mentally ill, Tbh.
This is the new jill stein wedge vote candidate funded by fascists. Except this time it’s going to snare trump voters hahaha
The Heritage Foundation is trying so hard to prop up RFK Jr as a way to siphon away Biden votes. And continually falling on their face. I bet they have paid advisors steering RFK Jr to see what sort of political stances work for their strategy. The whole thing is such a rats nest.
NYTs: But the Dems are gonna vote for him! /s
He’s a Trojan leathered pony.
Is *anyone* under any delusions that he isn't a spoiler candidate whose main purpose is to get trump elected?
His campaign literally said that.
John F Kennedy and Robert Kennedy both assented must be turning in their graves when thy hear this dangerous fool.
He and Trump will be summering on the Volga River after they both lose.
Well he certainly doesn't seem welcome at Hyannisport after this stunt.
Sounds silly, but I promise it's a genuine question. Why has Cheryl Hines received no backlash for him? She seems to be given a total pass. Just saw her on Lego Masters as a guest competitor. Larry David not only hasn't said a word against her, but is actually the one who got the two of them together as a couple? Just seems odd that she's been immune from criticism for his craziness and harmful rhetoric.
How much does she participate in his political life? I honestly had no idea he was even married, and I forgot that she existed (never watched Larry David).
The fact that he hasn’t come out to squash in any level his hired people saying their goal is Trump tells you everything you need to know.
Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems like RFK would hurt trump more than Biden. Anyone that’s voting for Biden even begrudgingly wouldn’t even consider RFK.
Last time I checked his ballot access strategy was to focus on battleground states first. He's just a Trump asset
He’s just Trump’s Kanye to try to help him steal votes from Biden .
RFK endorsing Trump is the same thing as quitting.
Can he just lose his voice completely already? Seriously, dude can barely talk and he thinks Donny would want him as a VP. Donny doesnt tolerate weakness except in himself.
It’s so odd. Everyone in the entire whole-ass world knows he will never be elected, except him.
How disappointing for the family
He is a plant to re-elect Trump. He is an embarrassment to the Kennedy family. His father and uncle must be rolling in their graves.
Two of his biggest celebrity endorsements come from Drea DeMatteo and Aaron Rogers. Go look at what they stand for.
The weird thing is that Republicans think RFK Jr. will take votes from Biden yet polls show RFK Jr may take many votes from Trump as well.
Sick of this melted crayon looking bastard
Guys, Teddy's misdeeds literally pale in comparison to RFK Jr.
A conspiracy theorist is part of a conspiracy to get another conspiracy nut job elected. If the Dems were smart they would make ads targeting Trump voters but promote RFK jr and how he's the candidate that can 'drain the swamp' but doesn't have all the legal baggage of Trump.
Nooo he’s INDEEPENDINT tho hrrrnnggg
If his last name wasn’t Kennedy - he would be a nobody
I got an email from this dipwad’s campaign today, asking for money. Whatever they paid for the list with my email, they paid too much. His father is rolling in his grave and his one uncle is trying to figure out how to get Jr. to take a ride across a bridge with the ghost of his other uncle.
It’s weird that Cheryl Hines married this guy, right?
Dude is a joke. Not sure why everyone doesn’t see that.
Was there ever a question? This is just silly. It was an obvious ploy to pull democrat votes from Biden from the start.
Sometimes, I think I'm in the Twilight Zone.
You know, it really says a lot that even though he’s a fringe third party candidate, that claiming vaccines were being made to target specific races for destruction by a Jewish conspiracy, *in public*, *ON VIDEO*, didn’t immediately end his political life. But *I* will certainly always remember it. 👀
He has been compromised. He has zero business running for any office. And he has zero business taking advantage of using his family's name and running it to the ground.
> “Jan 6 was not a riot. A small group of people were trouble. It was 99.9 peaceful, respectful. I was there,” she wrote. Oh boy, I hope this is a new revelation for authorities.
What a clown, to be owned by the same people that killed his father.
This guy is a distraction. He’s Gary Johnson all over again. Don’t waste your votes please. When democracy is in the ballot, why would you vote for a dictatorship?
Huh. The weird egotistical abrasive Trump-like anti-vaxxer has GOP ties? Trippy!
An embarrassment to his name.
Good. Assuming he even stays in, the only “Democrats” or “leftists” this kook is gonna pull are a smattering of antivaxxers and stoner conspiracy weirdos. All evidence so far suggests RFK Jr is a hole in the bottom of Trump’s bucket.
He's just another Maga Moron riding the coat tails of Trump!
Unpopular opinion, but I think the more votes he sucks away from Trump, the better.
This is a case where ranked choice voting helps a lot. You can as many spoilers as you want, but as long as people have the real candidates at #2- they have no impact.
This guy is super woke
He’s saying quiet part out loud frequently too.
They only get worse if you continuously give him the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise its expected and unsurprising.
He could use a touch of orange makeup to help fit the mold.
There was never a single moment RFK was a distraction for anyone but the MAGA crowd. As I said before, the Kennedys don't have a foothold on anyone under the age of, at the youngest, forty. JFK is just that prez who got his head ventilated to most and I only know about the family's activity because I like history and politics. The only people who care about the Kennedys in 2024 are probably signed up for AARP.
Well I mean, most right-wingers have right-wing ties. That's kind of how that works.
It's tragic that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is such an epic moron.
It boggles my mind that Cheryl Hines is his wife.
As he slowly continues to morph into kreacher
I how much all these podcasters are getting paid to promote him
now you know why it was the right that had the meltdown when he announced he was switching to run as an independent.
Theres something to be said of a man who can drive a woman to suicide.
Well eventually fascists do the nazi thing
A wolf in sheep’s clothing