RFK Jr.’s independent bid for the White House is predicated on convincing certain Donald Trump voters and Democrats, disaffected with Joe Biden’s radical presidency, that he’s not the hard-left radical he used to be.
Used to be? Get real, Robert — we’ve got the receipts, including one so fresh it still has that new receipt smell.
This time the receipt is for his newfound support for black reparations, but I’ll get to that in a moment. First, we need to look at Kennedy’s rank — and I do mean it stinks — opportunism on the campaign trail.
Kennedy was once considered “too controversial” to head up Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency. Word is that Obama had considered Kennedy to head up the EPA. But between his radical environmentalism and past heroin use, his name was dropped. Too radical for Obama. Let that sink in. But don’t you worry because Robert Jr.’s campaign “has stayed largely silent on climate change.”
Maybe that means he’s serious when he says he wants “policies that make sense to skeptics and activists alike.” Maybe it means nothing at all.
The moment I knew for sure that Kennedy hadn’t reformed came in August when he was asked by NBC’s Ali Vitali whether, if elected, he would sign a federal ban on abortion after 21 or even 15 weeks into a pregnancy. “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life,” Kennedy said, clearly understanding what had been asked. “Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child.”
Later that same day, his campaign released an unsigned statement “clarifying” the candidate’s remarks. “Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion.” The statement also claimed that Kennedy had misheard the question in the “crowded, noisy exhibit hall.” What the hell did he think he was talking about when he clearly said “the state has an interest in protecting [a viable] child?”
Whatever. The point is that RFK Jr. held the courage of his newfound conviction for less than one day.
ASIDE: When I first wrote about Kennedy’s unreformed radicalism back in June, it was in a piece headlined “Dear Conservatives: RFK Jr. Is Still Just a F****** Commie.” Can I call’em sometimes, or what?
This week, the RFK Jr. campaign website published a new policy statement titled “Racial Healing.” In it, Kennedy promises to “set federal dollars aside to rebuild Black infrastructure” and “direct redress payments or tax credits to the descendents [sic] of the victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution.”
I take it from “other victims of persecution” that pretty much anyone with their (nonwhite) hand out will be eligible for a handout.
Here’s the seriously slimy part. On the last point, titled “Free ID for all,” Kennedy sneakily moved the goalposts from black Americans to “marginalized people.” He promises to issue “free passport cards available to anyone who wants one.” Federal ID cards for anyone? Including illegal immigrants? What could go wrong?
The takeaway is this. RFK Jr. keeps trying to convince people he’s moved to the center, but every time he’s pushed, he returns to the hard left. And now, out of the blue, he’s announced he’s in favor of reparations — and so much worse.
Maybe today’s kerfuffle over Kennedy’s “Racial Healing” statement will leave him twisting in the wind once more. Maybe he’ll soon announce he isn’t really in favor of reparations, after all, and that whoever writes his campaign announcements simply misunderstood the question. But can you trust him?
Who knows! With an opportunistic lefty like RFK Jr., what he believes matters only in each fleeting moment. Convincing a few more rubes to lend him their support is what counts.
I never fell for it, and I hope you won’t, either.
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