(New York) Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement, crossed the North American continent to go to Boston, the birthplace of his family and the American Revolution, where he announced his candidacy for the presidency on Wednesday of the United States and claimed the torch of his country’s most famous political dynasty.
In a video that preceded his appearance at Boston Park Plaza – and throughout his speech – the adopted Californian made numerous references to his uncle John, 35e president, and to his father Robert, presidential candidate in 1968, both assassinated.
“At the time, my father was in many ways in the same situation as me,” said the man who first became known as an environmental lawyer before becoming a critic of vaccination. “He was running against a president of his own party. He opposed a war. He presented himself at a time of unprecedented division in our country. He had no chance of winning. »
PHOTO BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
Photo of Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his father presented to supporters of the Democratic candidate, at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, Wednesday
But, he added, “this desperation for his campaign allowed him to speak the truth to the American people.”
69-year-old Robert Kennedy Jr joins Marianne Williamson, author of bestselling books on spirituality and well-being, as an opponent of Joe Biden in the race for the Democratic nomination for the presidential election of 2024.
And, if we are to trust a poll published Wednesday by the USA Today, he leaves with a surprising number of supports. Only 67% of Joe Biden voters in 2020 said they would support him for the Democratic nomination compared to his current opponents. Kennedy is at 14% and Williamson at 5%.
“Although his chances are slim, Kennedy starts with more than 10% support and cannot be ignored at this point,” said David Paleologos, director of the Center for Political Research at Suffolk University, which led the poll.
A serious application?
Never mind: Thomas Whalen, author of two books on the Kennedys and professor of social studies at Boston University, is more than skeptical of the candidacy of the third of Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s 11 children.
“The famous Kennedy family name has really tarnished over the past few decades,” he said.
Robert Kennedy is in a way the last and sad exclamation point which marks the end of the Kennedy dynasty.
Thomas Whalen, professor of social studies at Boston University
“This is more of a joke than a serious nomination,” the professor added, alluding to Kennedy’s positions related to vaccination in general and the COVID-19 pandemic in particular.
Positions similar to those of the Trumpist right
In recent years, RFK Jr has accused the Dr Anthony Fauci of “coup against Western democracy”; he promoted the antiparasitic drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19; and he said Jews enjoyed greater freedom in Nazi Germany than Americans in the face of lockdowns and vaccination requirements.
In 2019, three members of his family – his sister Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, his brother Joseph P. Kennedy II and his niece Maeve Kennedy McKean – wrote a column on the Politico site accusing him of participating in “a disinformation campaign whose consequences are devastating and murderous”.
But this is not the only subject on which Robert Kennedy Jr adopts positions similar to those of the Trumpist right. The same is true for Ukraine, whose defense does not in his opinion represent a vital national interest, or for the media, of which he is as wary as Donald Trump.
“The media is lying to us and everyone knows it,” he said in Boston.
“Helpful Chaos Agent”
On April 8, he had already called a “shameless lie” a tweet by CBS journalist Robert Costa that Steve Bannon, former Donald Trump strategist, encouraged him to run against Joe Biden.
According to Costa, who co-authored with famed investigative journalist Bob Woodward the book DangerBannon would see in Kennedy a “useful agent of chaos”.
Steve Bannon has nothing to do with my presidential campaign. I never discussed running for president with Mr. Bannon.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, in a tweet
On Wednesday, Kennedy said his mission “over the next 18 months of this campaign and my presidency will be to end the corrupt fusion of state and corporate power that has ruined our economy, destroyed the middle class , polluted our landscapes and waters, poisoned our children and stripped us of our values and our freedom”.
RFK Jr is the third member of the Boston dynasty to run for president while a Democrat occupies the White House. After his father in 1968, his uncle Edward, then a senator from Massachusetts, also did it in 1980 by challenging Jimmy Carter.
“It’s a bad omen for Joe Biden,” said Thomas Whalen, half fig, half grape. “Each time a Kennedy campaigns under these circumstances, it has led to the election of a Republican or Conservative president, in this case Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. ” Never two without three ?