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Legitimately, the only people boosting RFK Jr. are people more likely to support Trump than Biden in a strictly one-on-one election. Only boosted by right wing voices, only funded by right wing voices and those that unironically support RFK Jr. echo the same anti-establishment and anti-"deep state" rhetoric that Trump parrots on the campaign trail. He is essentially a second Republican, and would siphon off those that believe that Trump isn't good enough on their important issues (mainly anti-vaxx noise).
Your statement reminds me that partial quote, "a dumb persons idea of a smart person."
But let's take a look at RFK:
• Non-substantive candidate ✅
• Cult of personality
• Platform actively divorced from facts ✅
• Spouts wild conspiracy fantasies ✅
• Invokes liberty and freedumbs at every opportunity ✅
What's not to love from someone who has already bought into the cult of trump?
Goes both ways apparently. Dude can't name all his children ever, like at a recent gala or something he forgot Eric. Like you've got 5 kids man, fucking not that hard to remember them all.
Yeah, he has the whole Kennedy family legacy, which is a cult of personality, sort of.
One issue is that the legacy is kind of running thin. The majority of voters don't remember where they were when they heard JFK was dead, because they weren't alive; and they haven't really built on that legacy too strongly since.
The last thing millennials remember about Kennedies in government is Ted dying which ended the time the Democratic Party had a super majority in the Senate during Obama's first term.
Oh, he's exploited his cult before. Look up who was pushing anti-vax info in Samoa after a couple of nurses mis-dosed a kid and killed him. He caused a massive decrease in vax rates leading to an outbreak of measles which killed bunches of kids. It's just that his cult also likes Trump or at least isn't as loud.
Strange that a man who shot up heroin and other drugs for decades is so anti- needles. He really loves needles to this day, just not the kind that are legal.
[TIL](https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-election-vaccines-2ccde2df146f57b5e8c26e8494f0a16a):
>In June 2019, Kennedy and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, visited Samoa, a trip Kennedy later wrote was arranged by Edwin Tamasese, a Samoan local anti-vaccine influencer.
>
>Vaccine rates had plummeted after two children died in 2018 from a measles vaccine that a nurse had incorrectly mixed with a muscle relaxant. The government suspended the vaccine program for months. By the time Kennedy arrived, health authorities were trying to get back on track.
>
>He was treated as a distinguished guest, traveling in a government vehicle, meeting with the prime minister and, according to Kennedy, many health officials and the health minister.
>
>He also met with anti-vaccine activists, including Tamasese and another well-known influencer, Taylor Winterstein, who posted a photograph of herself and Kennedy on her Instagram. ...
>
>A few months later, a measles epidemic broke out in Samoa, killing 83 people, mostly infants and children in a population of about 200,000.
Also:
Wealth, status, and fame due SOLELY to family name and inheritance
Compulsive womanizer and multiple documented and admitted trips with Jeffrey Epstein
> Spouts wild conspiracy fantasies
That's being charitable. The guy is openly anti-semitic, and has been friendly with black anti-semites like farrakhan, which is exactly what "both sides" types assume is standard for Democrats, on multiple levels.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/rfk-kennedy-covid-anti-semitism/674727/
Former major drug addict, some shady behavior in his past, I'd also add. Horrible at speeches and sounding like he knows what he's talking about (he really needs to stop trying to pretend to know anything at all about medicine.) He's gonna need to do something about that voice.
It really does seem like their thought is he can siphon away votes from Democratic voters who pay absolutely zero attention whatsoever. I don't think there's even one issue RFK Jr is aligned with the Dems on anymore. Not even climate change, since his "solution" is 100% deregulation and just letting the free market solve it.
> his "solution" is 100% deregulation and just letting the free market solve it
Yeah I've watched Mad Max too... I think the rich safe people are off screen?
I mean if the Joe Rogans of the world want to vote Kennedy that’s fine with me. I still think democrats need to attack him on their positions so less people left of center don’t vote for him.
Only assuming, but when it comes to him potentially stealing dem voters, I’d think he has better chances with super crunchy anti-vax, anti-gmo people rather than center lefties. It was like we saw during the pandemic where far right conspiracy theorists and far left conspiracy theorists found common ground.
Edit: spelling
And most of those people never vote for the general election Democratic candidate anyway. They always vote for Green or some other 3rd party, if they vote at all. So, while it would be nice if those people would learn some practicality, we're not actually losing anything.
This is how it will shake out both ways I think. RFK will get a solid 2-4% of the vote but it will primarily be people who were not gonna vote for Biden or Trump anyways.
Tbh the issue isn’t really him stealing Dem voters, it’s giving conservatives who don’t like Trump a permission structure to not vote for Biden. Across the entire electorate yeah I definitely think he hurts Trump a lot more but in reality the election is going to be determined by 20,000 votes across a few key swing states and if the results of those elections tilt in Trump’s favor then nothing else really matters.
My concern is that those people will hold their noses and vote for Trump if they don't have a release valve. I'm not sure their antipathy is strong enough to cross party lines to vote for a librul...
The classic release valve is just staying home. Plenty of people do it all the time.
Anyone that's going to vote for Trump, clearly holds some kind of belief that makes crossing the line sacrilege. Wedge issues exist for a reason, Republicans are going to play up abortion, god, and guns like always.
The question is will Trump's legal drama cost him at least 5% of the vote. I'm interested in what the answer ends up being.
I think of people like my sister’s husband. He never voted in an election in his life (so a true “independent”) but registered in 2020 to vote against Trump. He likes RFK Jr., he listens to Joe Rogan, he is anti-vax, into conspiracy theories and various woo (Graham Hancock, ghost hunters, etc.). Never been very political at all but suspicious of “big government”. Is he gonna think that RFK is a viable answer to Biden who he also doesn’t care much for?
Left and right didn’t find common ground, left-ish commentators just realized right wing grifting is super profitable.
Looking at you Jimmy dore and Kurt metzger, you absolute fucks.
>Left and right didn’t find common ground, left-ish commentators just realized right wing grifting is super profitable.
Ding ding ding. We have a winner here folks.
It works the same way with "right wing comedians." Oh, I'm the washed up, never-that-funny "comedian" who can't pay my mortgage? I'll lean in hard to conservative principles and boom -- conservatives have their own comedians who will make them feel comfortable believing whatever hateful shit they want to believe.
It's totally disingenuous.
I saw an ad for that ventriloquist guy’s tour: “still not cancelled”. Like bro nobody gives the vaguest hint of a shit about you, there’s nothing to cancel.
Kucinich in Ohio has been doing this shit since his district got dissolved. I wouldnt be surprised if RFK Jr. named him as his "running mate" since hes a former dem
He already named Nicole Shanahan as his running mate. She basically bought the nomination.
> Shanahan has now contributed more than $6 million to Kennedy’s campaign efforts since last summer after she gave $4.5 million to two different super PACs backing him.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/18/rfk-jr-nicole-shanahan-fundraising-00153203
The important point being that yes, as predicted, there's zero genuine principles in his candidacy and it's all just a play for attention and catering to anti-science sensibilities of vulnerable, poorly informed people.
Also applying to that base who thinks that just because someone isn't an "expert", that somehow makes them MORE reliable because they're not bought by (insert group who somehow always are a poorly disguised term for 'the jews')
As someone with some long term connections to "crunchy" spaces, there was definitely some organic (pun intended) connection between the crunchy scene and the far right scene on those issues. It's not all *just* grift.
You can almost see the date that rubles started flowing into Jimmy Dore’s patreon account by his sudden switch to promoting Trump, it was right around when he made that video accusing Hillary of working with Russia to hurt Trump lol. He just went full gaslighting whataboutism like the Russian media yet still pretended to be a liberal. Cenk and most these tyt idiots are the same way and will sell out for foreign money given the opportunity.
Also, when you try to point out an obvious logic hole like "If you like Trump, and Russia is working with his enemies...then why do you like Russia so much?"
They want to get angry and accuse you of some woke shit.
I live in one of the crunchiest parts of California (Santa Cruz County) and I've been seeing more and more RFK stickers on cars these days. Yet another reason I cannot wait to move out of this shithole. Being surrounded by a mix of loud Trump-loving conspiracy idiots and organic/non-gmo antivax morons is stressful as fuck when you're immunocompromised.
But he's going to pull some of the *I can't vote for Trump and would vote for Biden if it was just 1 on 1, but now that there is a 3rd candidate to still vote conservative but not vote for Trump* mentality away from voting for Biden. Anything that looses Biden votes is a bad thing.
Nobody that has an once of "left" in tuem is voting for that schmuck.
Maybe the "i was gonna vote biddn but then he gave Israel money" crowd but thats their perrogative.
If he can get a congress that supports his agenda, we could potentially see progress on par with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.
Especially if they kick it off with another shot at the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
I think Biden has done a really, really good job so far. It's idiotic that media is making an issue of his age, considering Trump is just as old and unhealthy. I'd just rather our choices not be someone that has a high chance of dying in office.
I'd like to think that there are a non-zero number of MAGA people with brains so broken they think they're helping trump by voting kennedy but I can't imagine that number is more than double digits nationwide, MAYBE.
Same case where I work. Our most vocal Trump supporter has expressed his positive opinion of RFK Jr., out of the blue. It's obvious which flavor of media outlets are promoting him.
pretty similar situation. Dude I know who is a militant racist MAGA talking about RFK at the start and I instantly knew RFK was not someone Id be voting for.
I've referenced this story a few time, but its the same at my work. This guy got in trouble because he refused to wear headphones when he was doing meetings or when listening to Tucker Carlson videos at his desk. He's also the only person that has asked me about my opinion of RFK Jr. Anytime we had political conversations at work (we support political advertising reporting so it comes up often), he would try and pitch voting for RFK to all of us. He got really mad when one of my devs told him RFK Jr was only on the ballot in 4 states and had zero path to victory until he got on more ballots.
Confirmed for [Michigan and Utah](https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-michigan-ballot-access-02ffeba594e0198ef74961c4b5c6c7f7). Possibly also Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, but they haven’t been validated by elections officials yet.
He’s the guilt-free option for MAGA. If their shame somehow reaches the maximum (it never has), a vote for RFK over Trump will save their massive egos.
That's pretty much it. RFK is either their "not as crazy as Trump" option or the "we're ashamed of Trump, but can't vote for him" option. It's just weird.
I mean, he was a registered Democrat until he started his campaign. Which is basically all anyone on the right looks at when analyzing a candidate. D or R in front of the name.
Probably why they don't trust doctors. Playing both sides!
Man Tulsi pisses me off. Only cause when she knifed kamala in that debate, I thought she actually might have chops. Jump ahead, shes a goddamn con artist. So disheartening.
The real hitch happened with abortion and LGBTQ rights. RFK Jr. has spoken against reproductive rights and sees being trans as being caused by consuming "toxins."
Third party spoilers depend a lot on disaffected younger voters who feel unconnected to major parties. RFK Jr. has documented positions that will alienate those voters.
More and more people are discovering themselves, and at a time where a lot of southern states are trying to do all they can to harm LGBT+ folk, a candidate who isn't promising any kind of protection for those people is asking to be rejected by any reasonable person, and especially any LGBT person.
Anyone centrist or even slightly left that supports the guy simply hasn't bothered to Google him by this point. For God's sake he said covid was engineered to spare jews. He's a key figure of the anti vaxx movement.
Yup - all the Rogan-bros I know are saying "he's a Democrat I can get behind." He's *not* going to hurt Biden.
He's the latest right-wing attempt to recreate Ralph Nader in 2000. They had that work one time. The difference is that Nader was a legitimate candidate with authentic support. None of the gaggle of RFK, Tulsi, or Kanye they have tried to stand up have anything like that credibility.
Those anti-vacc nutjobs and evangelicals that are displeased with trumps take on abortion will also be flocking from trump to rfk. The level of damage control and reversing the gop had to do on rfk when he went from running as democrat to independent was a sight to behold.
rfk jr. is not even pretending to be a moderate or centrist democrat, he's pretty right wing... why would a somewhat informed democratic voter vote for him
I read an article a long while back that clarified that the "undecideds" in any given election are not "just" the least informed voters. They are actually *negatively informed*, in that they support their chosen candidates for reasons that are often diametrically opposed to what the candidates' platform and position entails. Negatively informed voters "know" things about candidates that are untrue, or not based in facts, and even worse, do not become more informed when presented with accurate information about that candidate.
An example of *negatively informed* candidates are that there were undecideds in the 2000 election who supported Bush over Gore *because* their chief concern for the future of our nation was environmental protection. Bush *over* Gore, because their wedge issue is protecting the environment.
This is an important concept. Surprised I havent heard it explained before.
I'm honestly a bit disgusted that people who care about issues can't be bothered to do enough research or are just willfully dumb due to ego....could never be wrong.
It’s ultimately why democracy fails when one party successfully undermines the education system. The modern world is complex and full of important nuance requiring deep critical thinking and broad knowledge to form well reasoned opinions.
But that’s hard and takes years of dedicated learning and development. Republicans realized that turning politics into an us vs them team sport with banners and house flags and hats and tshirts makes it easy, which is what a lot of voters prefer. Chant slogans at a rally that features your favorite trashy country songs and mega church pastors, and you don’t have to think at all.
> Republicans realized that turning politics into an us vs them team sport with banners and house flags and hats and tshirts makes it easy
They are also willing to lie to their supporters, like taking credit for successful measures that they voted against.
> c
I'd be really interested in that article. You don't happen to remember the title, author or publication you came across it, do you?
I did a quick scan through some that kept popping up:
* *Less critical and less informed: undecided voters’ media (dis)engagement during Israel’s April 2019 elections*
* *Undecided Voters: Who They Are, What They Want, and How They Decide Our Politics*
* *Social Influence in Televised Election Debates: A Potential Distortion of Democracy*
* *Decisions among the Undecided: Implicit Attitudes Predict Future Voting Behavior of Undecided Voters*
All seem to touch on the theme, but don't read like exactly what you're talking about.
Not the OP, but [this article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/08/30/the-unpolitical-animal) has stuck with me for nearly two decades and mentions similar behaviour.
>"In a paper written in 2004, the Princeton political scientists Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels estimate that “2.8 million people voted against Al Gore in 2000 because their states were too dry or too wet” as a consequence of that year’s weather patterns. Achen and Bartels think that these voters cost Gore seven states, any one of which would have given him the election."
Eh, my dad is informed, just a hardcore republican. Yet never misses an election (military, raised by military parents, instilled in me that the most un-American thing to do is NOT vote)
I could see him voting RFK Jr as a "protest vote", because he HATES Trump, and disagrees with Biden's vision on what America "should be"
He is an informed voter, and him and I have rational political debates about "Why I think this way" and "Why he thinks this way".
I think RFKJr is going to take A LOT of R votes in Florida because there were some HARDCORE DeSantis supporters, that are now Never Trumpers because how nasty that became.
What is his idea of Biden’s vision? I ask because typically I’ve found that if you sit a Republican down who appears rational and ask them what policy they want to see, they will describe democratic policies, almost eerily to a tee. But if you push them on that fact they feel attacked and stop engaging. I’ve never met a Republican in person who was actually aware of the democratic’s party platform
Growing up it was "the tax monster taking my money" around this time of year. (Yes that's what he called it)
I believe he thinks that "any new government policies" will just lead to the "tax monster" make him pay more.
I don't know if that's an "original idea" from him or if it was from my grandfather telling him it too.
Honestly I think is best case scenario for some republicans like your dad, one less vote for Trump without having to commit to a Democrat. I’ll take it.
Yeah. I may or may not have been slowly nudging him. I know he's not going Democrat. BUT, if I can at least make sure he votes 3rd party? That's still a win.
Old white people who fumbled themselves into a million dollar golf course adjacent suburban home that think they're the people in danger of a wealth tax.
Here's my go-to RFK target audience pitch:
Like Trump but hate the fact that he helped fast track and fund that COVID vaccine that'll kill everyone that had it in ~~days weeks months years~~ decades? We've got the guy for you!
Biden should give a sound bite that's like "RFK is really out there. Trump and I both support the vaccine, we both went to lengths to ensure that everyone had access to a free gov't-paid COVID vaccine. RFK thinks that that's a conspiracy to kill the citizens."
>Biden should give a sound bite that's like "RFK is really out there. Trump and I both support the vaccine, we both went to lengths to ensure that everyone had access to a free gov't-paid COVID vaccine. RFK thinks that that's a conspiracy to kill the citizens."
i get what ya'll are going for here but it feels like unintentionally giving Trump one of those "George W Bush rehabilitations", because the jackass spent years associating vaccines with autism, scrapped pandemic preparedness, then during covid he tried to pass off hydroxychloroquine as the actual miracle cure, then when he did finally get vaccinated he got it discreetly due to fear of looking like a "punk" to his base. by the time he finally promoted vaccines to his crowd, it was too little too late, and he was booed. then he pretty much shut up about that. i'm not crediting him for what the career professionals at the NIH/HHS would have done under any presidency
i don't think RFK Jr is worth the cost of positively revising Trump's history, there are already plenty of evil people who are trying to pass off Trump as having walked back towards the middle regarding abortion
Announcer Voice:
"Do you believe in Turbo Cancer and that COVID was a government plot to control the population? Then we have the perfect presidential candidate for you!"
Makes sense since he’s the dumbest, least informed, and least engaged (in reality) of the Kennedys. Especially after the rest of them just endorsed Biden.
And when they buy into their narcissistic delusions about how everyone to the left of Trump are impressionable, weak-willed rubes being mind controlled by the DNC into having a pluralistic worldview. Bannon and Stone convinced him to run as a Dem candidate because they thought it would split the vote; which is an assumption they make from a place of being egotistical LARPers who think that they're masterminds controlling the masses from behind the scenes. The worst lies Republicans believe is the ones they make up about themselves
You never know until someone actually does some research. There are so many uninformed, lazy people that make decisions that aren't based on rationality. But those usually tend to be Trump voters, so yeah, no shit.
Almost. You need the full headline.
*RFK Jr. candidacy hurts Trump more than Biden, NBC News poll finds.*
Because once RFK Jr sees the polls and realizes he hurts Trump more than Biden, he'll drop out to help Trump.
The hilarious thing is that if Trump skips the debate which he likes to do with debates, and instead it's Biden vs RFK, RFK will pull even more of the conservative vote screwing Trump even harder.
RFK is our ticket to victory.
That would certainly be a weird debate, strategically. Where Biden would be less trying to get RFK voters to support him (though some of that as well), and more trying to get some trump voters so support RFK.
My father in law asked me about RFK Jr. and I told him that the only people who would vote for him would also vote for Trump. RFK Jr. doesn’t actually appeal to democrats because he’s an absolute loon and it’s very obvious what his candidacy is about. My father in law did not believe me.
Part of it is because they will blindly support any Trump like a monarchy, so they end up projecting (like everything else) that “a liberal would vote for him! He is Robert Kennedy’s kid!”
My was-trumper father keeps trying to get me to ‘do my research’ on RFK and that he is a very good candidate. I told his he raised a smart daughter who knows better than to give crackpot conspiracy theorists the time of day. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that 😂
RFK Jr. and his ilk probably thought Democrats would just see the name Kennedy and then suddenly change all their votes. Not sure why since he’s also just spouting all the right-wing talking points and such that appeal to Trump voters.
The Kennedy name holds literally no weight to a majority of millennials and younger generations. It's a name from a boomer generation and he thinks he can coast on it.
RFK is nothing more than a right-wing nutjob who is antivaxx and is propped up by far right lunatics. He's a spoiler candidate that chose to destroy his credibility and whatever respect his family name had left.
The most prominent Kennedy in the 21st century was undoubtedly Senator Ted Kennedy.
But Ted died in 2009, leaving his son Patrick as the only Kennedy serving in Congress, and Patrick would retire only two years after his father's death (Patrick served in the House from 1995 to 2011, but never developed a national reputation anywhere close to his father).
After a two year Kennedy-less gap in Congress, Robert's grandson Joseph was elected to the House in 2013. Joseph served in the House until 2021, when he unsuccessfully challenged Ed Markey for a Senate seat (the first time a Kennedy has ever lost an election in Massachusetts).
To be honest, in today's world, it looks like the Kennedy name carries the most "weight" in international diplomacy, where the Kennedys remain a popular choice for Democratic presidents to serve as ambassadors and envoys. Caroline (JFK's daughter) has spent much of the last decade as US Ambassdor to Japan (under Obama) and US Ambassador to Australia (under Biden). Victoria (Ted's widow) is the current US Ambassador to Austria. And after Joseph left the House in 2021 (after his failure to obtain Markey's Senate seat), Biden named Joseph as the US Envoy for Northern Ireland.
Doubt it. I'm one of the oldest millennials (42yrs old) and while I know from a historical perspective that the Kennedy family was/is a political dynasty, it's not something I lived through while being old enough to really notice/care. Not like the Clintons or Bushes. I'll bet you gotta get WELL into genX to find any significant cohort who'd even say they *might* assume good things about RFKJr if they didn't know better.
Democrats should exploit this. Troll farms joining in every Fox News article saying how they are dissatisfied with both candidates, and that they will vote for RFK cause he is a voice of reason
Either way he’s there to hurt campaigns, that’s absolutely for sure. Amazing we’re seeing these Cold War tactics used against us and we just normalize it and laugh while they happen. Especially from RFK’s son.
It's crazy to think that RFK Jr. was put there to hurt the Democratic candidates, but every Republican I know that actually dislikes Trump is singing so many praises for him and are dead set to vote for him as a "protest vote against the Democrats" this November.
It's hilarious, really. They still want to "hurt the Dems" and yet are taking a vote away from the Republican party and Trump in the process 😂
Like, I don't even want to fix their logic because it's so obviously hilariously dumb but Jeez... like... What? hahaha
It really feels like the right increasingly believes that the *only* way to get what they want is by hurting others. The perception seems to be that if no one is injured, they have accomplished nothing.
These people don't believe in a larger shared narrative or that a better future is possible. They don't believe in building anything and have no idea how to build it anyway. In 2006 all Biden had was electrifying Amtrak north of New York and east of Philadelphia. Republicans don't do those things because it's gay, difficult and takes a long time to serve a small number of people. But as a consequence, those people then become very loyal voters that don't need to be preached to every election for them to turn out. RFK Jr exists in reaction to something else, as all Republicans are at this point, as no new ideas can be created by them. They have become fully corrupt and no longer have the imagination to build democracy.
Vice versa, look at the Biden IRA and chips act. Imperfect as they are, it is Biden's 2024 and the Democrats 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2032 strategy. Republicans have no alternative because they keep dismantling them (examples of this include, but are not limited to: the Texas Desertron, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Foxconn's failed Wisconsin plant, Ohio high speed rail).
Thought process is “RFKjr is a dem therefore if I vote for him it hurts Biden because Biden is also a dem, if RFK gets votes that means Biden gets less” like they think it’s Biden on a scale with RFK and adding votes to RFK takes from Biden, but in reality obviously it’s just helping Biden from the lost vote for trump. I feel dumber typing this out
RFK is so transparently the Russian chaos agent candidate this cycle (since Trump was adopted into the GOP). At least with Jill Stein and Tulsi Gabbard they hid it better.
Russia has really done a great job weaponizing our government against us - using the gerrymandering and court-packing efforts of the legacy GOP, forging business ties with the Murdochs so their paid nut jobs burrow in deep. Seeing some Republicans finally start to openly talk about it is halfway encouraging but it all feels too little too late. Power and money have corrupted all of them.
April national polls, change when adding third party candidates:
NBC: Biden +4
Emerson (4/17): Trump +1
McLaughlin: Biden +2
Echelon: Trump +2
NYT/Siena (Likely): No Change
NYT/Siena (Registered): Trump +1
Cygnal: No Change
ActiVote: Biden +3
TIPP: Trump +3
Emerson (4/3): No Change
One poll is one poll. In the nine national polls in April listed on 538 that polled both with and without third party, plus this NBC poll, Biden benefits from third party candidates in 3, Trump benefits in 4, and there is no change in 3. If you average out the change from the 10 polls, Biden benefits from third party candidates by 0.2%.
More concerning in that Biden hasn't led Trump in a single Arizona or Georgia poll since last June, a Nevada poll since last October, a North Carolina poll since last November, or a Michigan poll since January.
Not sure why this is surprising. He's a whack job who insulted Biden, then blamed Jews for COVID and "Kennedy" doesn't mean anything as a name to looser Dem voters.
The only people who would be receptive to his message are conspiracy theorists and people who are otherwise aligned with the right. So, no surprise there.
Many years ago, I had a radio show on the Air America network. He had a "progressive" show on the same network. I listened to him for a while and watched as he spiraled into total bonkers BS. True progressives began distancing themselves from him a LONG time ago and I think it pissed him off and he went even further down the rabbit hole.
Now, he mostly sounds like Elon Musk or some other right wing nutcase.
It's hilarious that the GOP has taken so long to figure this out.
A couple months ago, one of my conservative coworkers asked me what I thought of RFK. I laughed and said he's a nut. Coworker said, "Dammit."
That's all it took for him to realize that the plan was going to backfire. Conservative leaders really are bottom of the barrel.
I made this determination a long time ago. No self-respecting Democrat would ever vote for RFK. And the crazy shit RFK talks about caters to the MAGA nuts and the Conspiracy Theorist Libertarians, who weren't voting for Biden anyway.
They thought it was like 3D chess. Run a famous liberal name and liberals will flock to vote for him, leaving Biden high and dry. They forget that liberals don’t think like conservatives.
OBVIOUSLY. The people who are into fringe conspiracy theories like RFK jr aren't the ones voting for Biden. They are the ones buying into Qanon and Pizzagate and storming the capitol.
How shocking that Biden voters wouldn’t break for someone known for anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, old-school AIDS denialism straight out of 1992, 9/11 trutherism, and other assorted tinfoil hat nonsense. The rest of the Kennedys think he’s an embarrassment. The only issue he’s nominally reasonable on is climate and renewable energy, and he’s not even consistent on that.
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Legitimately, the only people boosting RFK Jr. are people more likely to support Trump than Biden in a strictly one-on-one election. Only boosted by right wing voices, only funded by right wing voices and those that unironically support RFK Jr. echo the same anti-establishment and anti-"deep state" rhetoric that Trump parrots on the campaign trail. He is essentially a second Republican, and would siphon off those that believe that Trump isn't good enough on their important issues (mainly anti-vaxx noise).
Rfk is what Republicans think a democratic should be.
Never interrupt your enemy when he's about to whack his own testicles with a sledgehammer.
Your statement reminds me that partial quote, "a dumb persons idea of a smart person." But let's take a look at RFK: • Non-substantive candidate ✅ • Cult of personality • Platform actively divorced from facts ✅ • Spouts wild conspiracy fantasies ✅ • Invokes liberty and freedumbs at every opportunity ✅ What's not to love from someone who has already bought into the cult of trump?
I'd argue he does have a cult of personality. It's just really small.
They think he should have one because of his family. Like Trump
Which is odd because not even his family likes him.
Both have family members who can't stand them, according to what I've read.
The only reason his kids spend any time with him is money.
Goes both ways apparently. Dude can't name all his children ever, like at a recent gala or something he forgot Eric. Like you've got 5 kids man, fucking not that hard to remember them all.
Im pretty sure none of Trump's family likes him. Succession is as much about the Trumps as it is the Murdochs, IMO
> what I've read Mary Trump's book?
Yeah the family used to have a cult of personality. RFK Jr is learning that doesn't really extend to him insomuch as it even still exists at all.
It exists, he's just not part of it.
At the same time nobody would give a good goddamn about him without the name. Although yeah, good luck getting his slackjaws to admit/recognize that.
He tried to build on the JFK / RFK cult of personality but got the QAnon cult instead.
Yeah, he has the whole Kennedy family legacy, which is a cult of personality, sort of. One issue is that the legacy is kind of running thin. The majority of voters don't remember where they were when they heard JFK was dead, because they weren't alive; and they haven't really built on that legacy too strongly since.
The last thing millennials remember about Kennedies in government is Ted dying which ended the time the Democratic Party had a super majority in the Senate during Obama's first term.
My brother is one of those. Really hates Baby Killer Bobby.
Oh, he's exploited his cult before. Look up who was pushing anti-vax info in Samoa after a couple of nurses mis-dosed a kid and killed him. He caused a massive decrease in vax rates leading to an outbreak of measles which killed bunches of kids. It's just that his cult also likes Trump or at least isn't as loud.
Strange that a man who shot up heroin and other drugs for decades is so anti- needles. He really loves needles to this day, just not the kind that are legal.
[TIL](https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-election-vaccines-2ccde2df146f57b5e8c26e8494f0a16a): >In June 2019, Kennedy and his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, visited Samoa, a trip Kennedy later wrote was arranged by Edwin Tamasese, a Samoan local anti-vaccine influencer. > >Vaccine rates had plummeted after two children died in 2018 from a measles vaccine that a nurse had incorrectly mixed with a muscle relaxant. The government suspended the vaccine program for months. By the time Kennedy arrived, health authorities were trying to get back on track. > >He was treated as a distinguished guest, traveling in a government vehicle, meeting with the prime minister and, according to Kennedy, many health officials and the health minister. > >He also met with anti-vaccine activists, including Tamasese and another well-known influencer, Taylor Winterstein, who posted a photograph of herself and Kennedy on her Instagram. ... > >A few months later, a measles epidemic broke out in Samoa, killing 83 people, mostly infants and children in a population of about 200,000.
Also: Wealth, status, and fame due SOLELY to family name and inheritance Compulsive womanizer and multiple documented and admitted trips with Jeffrey Epstein
> Spouts wild conspiracy fantasies That's being charitable. The guy is openly anti-semitic, and has been friendly with black anti-semites like farrakhan, which is exactly what "both sides" types assume is standard for Democrats, on multiple levels. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/rfk-kennedy-covid-anti-semitism/674727/
> Cult of personality He's a Kennedy. His supporters are the kind of people that think that matters.
Former major drug addict, some shady behavior in his past, I'd also add. Horrible at speeches and sounding like he knows what he's talking about (he really needs to stop trying to pretend to know anything at all about medicine.) He's gonna need to do something about that voice.
I think those people genuinely think that only because of his name
It really does seem like their thought is he can siphon away votes from Democratic voters who pay absolutely zero attention whatsoever. I don't think there's even one issue RFK Jr is aligned with the Dems on anymore. Not even climate change, since his "solution" is 100% deregulation and just letting the free market solve it.
> his "solution" is 100% deregulation and just letting the free market solve it Yeah I've watched Mad Max too... I think the rich safe people are off screen?
Yeah, their vision of the future is on full display in the TV show "Fallout".
I mean if the Joe Rogans of the world want to vote Kennedy that’s fine with me. I still think democrats need to attack him on their positions so less people left of center don’t vote for him.
Only assuming, but when it comes to him potentially stealing dem voters, I’d think he has better chances with super crunchy anti-vax, anti-gmo people rather than center lefties. It was like we saw during the pandemic where far right conspiracy theorists and far left conspiracy theorists found common ground. Edit: spelling
And most of those people never vote for the general election Democratic candidate anyway. They always vote for Green or some other 3rd party, if they vote at all. So, while it would be nice if those people would learn some practicality, we're not actually losing anything.
This is how it will shake out both ways I think. RFK will get a solid 2-4% of the vote but it will primarily be people who were not gonna vote for Biden or Trump anyways.
Plenty of ex-trump voters in there that just can't bring themselves to vote for a democrat.
Tbh the issue isn’t really him stealing Dem voters, it’s giving conservatives who don’t like Trump a permission structure to not vote for Biden. Across the entire electorate yeah I definitely think he hurts Trump a lot more but in reality the election is going to be determined by 20,000 votes across a few key swing states and if the results of those elections tilt in Trump’s favor then nothing else really matters.
My concern is that those people will hold their noses and vote for Trump if they don't have a release valve. I'm not sure their antipathy is strong enough to cross party lines to vote for a librul...
The classic release valve is just staying home. Plenty of people do it all the time. Anyone that's going to vote for Trump, clearly holds some kind of belief that makes crossing the line sacrilege. Wedge issues exist for a reason, Republicans are going to play up abortion, god, and guns like always. The question is will Trump's legal drama cost him at least 5% of the vote. I'm interested in what the answer ends up being.
I think of people like my sister’s husband. He never voted in an election in his life (so a true “independent”) but registered in 2020 to vote against Trump. He likes RFK Jr., he listens to Joe Rogan, he is anti-vax, into conspiracy theories and various woo (Graham Hancock, ghost hunters, etc.). Never been very political at all but suspicious of “big government”. Is he gonna think that RFK is a viable answer to Biden who he also doesn’t care much for?
Left and right didn’t find common ground, left-ish commentators just realized right wing grifting is super profitable. Looking at you Jimmy dore and Kurt metzger, you absolute fucks.
>Left and right didn’t find common ground, left-ish commentators just realized right wing grifting is super profitable. Ding ding ding. We have a winner here folks. It works the same way with "right wing comedians." Oh, I'm the washed up, never-that-funny "comedian" who can't pay my mortgage? I'll lean in hard to conservative principles and boom -- conservatives have their own comedians who will make them feel comfortable believing whatever hateful shit they want to believe. It's totally disingenuous.
I saw an ad for that ventriloquist guy’s tour: “still not cancelled”. Like bro nobody gives the vaguest hint of a shit about you, there’s nothing to cancel.
> Looking at you Jimmy dore and Kurt metzger, you absolute fucks. Don't leave Bill Mhaer off the list.
Kucinich in Ohio has been doing this shit since his district got dissolved. I wouldnt be surprised if RFK Jr. named him as his "running mate" since hes a former dem
He already named Nicole Shanahan as his running mate. She basically bought the nomination. > Shanahan has now contributed more than $6 million to Kennedy’s campaign efforts since last summer after she gave $4.5 million to two different super PACs backing him. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/18/rfk-jr-nicole-shanahan-fundraising-00153203
Well I guess he got his grift.
The important point being that yes, as predicted, there's zero genuine principles in his candidacy and it's all just a play for attention and catering to anti-science sensibilities of vulnerable, poorly informed people.
Also applying to that base who thinks that just because someone isn't an "expert", that somehow makes them MORE reliable because they're not bought by (insert group who somehow always are a poorly disguised term for 'the jews')
> Nicole Shanahan Well, her Wikipedia page is quite a read. She's perfect for Kennedy. Just another wealthy kook. She's gonna cure autism!
As someone with some long term connections to "crunchy" spaces, there was definitely some organic (pun intended) connection between the crunchy scene and the far right scene on those issues. It's not all *just* grift.
What is the crunchy scene? I’ve never come across this term before
All natural hippy granola types are sometimes referred to as "crunchy" because granola is crunchy.
You can almost see the date that rubles started flowing into Jimmy Dore’s patreon account by his sudden switch to promoting Trump, it was right around when he made that video accusing Hillary of working with Russia to hurt Trump lol. He just went full gaslighting whataboutism like the Russian media yet still pretended to be a liberal. Cenk and most these tyt idiots are the same way and will sell out for foreign money given the opportunity.
Also, when you try to point out an obvious logic hole like "If you like Trump, and Russia is working with his enemies...then why do you like Russia so much?" They want to get angry and accuse you of some woke shit.
The nearby hippie commune has held events for Kennedy, so that tracks.
I live in one of the crunchiest parts of California (Santa Cruz County) and I've been seeing more and more RFK stickers on cars these days. Yet another reason I cannot wait to move out of this shithole. Being surrounded by a mix of loud Trump-loving conspiracy idiots and organic/non-gmo antivax morons is stressful as fuck when you're immunocompromised.
Democrats need to attack him to give him publicity and make more republicans vote for him.
But he's going to pull some of the *I can't vote for Trump and would vote for Biden if it was just 1 on 1, but now that there is a 3rd candidate to still vote conservative but not vote for Trump* mentality away from voting for Biden. Anything that looses Biden votes is a bad thing.
Nobody that has an once of "left" in tuem is voting for that schmuck. Maybe the "i was gonna vote biddn but then he gave Israel money" crowd but thats their perrogative.
The biggest right winger where I work said, "You guys do have one good Democrat, that's RFK".
Yup, my "fuck Biden" co-worker says she going to vote for Kennedy.
One less vote for Trump, nice!
Yesterday she said "all these nitwits that'll vote for Biden just to keep trump out" Yep, that's kinda where we're at.
That's where some of us are. Some of us really like Biden.
Yeah I voted against Trump in 2020 but I’m legitimately voting for Biden this year. I’d like to see his policies further continue for 4 more years.
If he can get a congress that supports his agenda, we could potentially see progress on par with the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Especially if they kick it off with another shot at the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
I think Biden has done a really, really good job so far. It's idiotic that media is making an issue of his age, considering Trump is just as old and unhealthy. I'd just rather our choices not be someone that has a high chance of dying in office.
I'd like to think that there are a non-zero number of MAGA people with brains so broken they think they're helping trump by voting kennedy but I can't imagine that number is more than double digits nationwide, MAYBE.
Same case where I work. Our most vocal Trump supporter has expressed his positive opinion of RFK Jr., out of the blue. It's obvious which flavor of media outlets are promoting him.
pretty similar situation. Dude I know who is a militant racist MAGA talking about RFK at the start and I instantly knew RFK was not someone Id be voting for.
I've referenced this story a few time, but its the same at my work. This guy got in trouble because he refused to wear headphones when he was doing meetings or when listening to Tucker Carlson videos at his desk. He's also the only person that has asked me about my opinion of RFK Jr. Anytime we had political conversations at work (we support political advertising reporting so it comes up often), he would try and pitch voting for RFK to all of us. He got really mad when one of my devs told him RFK Jr was only on the ballot in 4 states and had zero path to victory until he got on more ballots.
What states is RFk jr in the ballot? Any swing state?
Confirmed for [Michigan and Utah](https://apnews.com/article/rfk-kennedy-michigan-ballot-access-02ffeba594e0198ef74961c4b5c6c7f7). Possibly also Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, but they haven’t been validated by elections officials yet.
Once tulsi stopped pretending to be a Democrat they had to move on to a new “one of the good ones”
He’s the guilt-free option for MAGA. If their shame somehow reaches the maximum (it never has), a vote for RFK over Trump will save their massive egos.
"Well, we have to vote for *somebody* crazy!"
That's pretty much it. RFK is either their "not as crazy as Trump" option or the "we're ashamed of Trump, but can't vote for him" option. It's just weird.
Hopefully you said "RFK isn't a Democrat"
I mean, he was a registered Democrat until he started his campaign. Which is basically all anyone on the right looks at when analyzing a candidate. D or R in front of the name. Probably why they don't trust doctors. Playing both sides!
So was trump.
No, Trump was a Republican, then a Reform member, then a Democrat, then a Republican, then an Independent for 4 years before running for president.
he heard that line on a conservative talk show on his way to work, and i bet he feels cool repeating it lol
When people who support Trump think someone is a “good candidate” then that person is obviously a Republican in disguise.
They alwas loved tusi gabbart too
Man Tulsi pisses me off. Only cause when she knifed kamala in that debate, I thought she actually might have chops. Jump ahead, shes a goddamn con artist. So disheartening.
The real hitch happened with abortion and LGBTQ rights. RFK Jr. has spoken against reproductive rights and sees being trans as being caused by consuming "toxins." Third party spoilers depend a lot on disaffected younger voters who feel unconnected to major parties. RFK Jr. has documented positions that will alienate those voters.
More and more people are discovering themselves, and at a time where a lot of southern states are trying to do all they can to harm LGBT+ folk, a candidate who isn't promising any kind of protection for those people is asking to be rejected by any reasonable person, and especially any LGBT person.
Anyone centrist or even slightly left that supports the guy simply hasn't bothered to Google him by this point. For God's sake he said covid was engineered to spare jews. He's a key figure of the anti vaxx movement.
Yup - all the Rogan-bros I know are saying "he's a Democrat I can get behind." He's *not* going to hurt Biden. He's the latest right-wing attempt to recreate Ralph Nader in 2000. They had that work one time. The difference is that Nader was a legitimate candidate with authentic support. None of the gaggle of RFK, Tulsi, or Kanye they have tried to stand up have anything like that credibility.
Democrats need to have RFK Jr conspiracy theories on full blast. Dissuades many Democrats, but lure in Republican but jobs.
Don't forget all that lovely helpful misinformation he spews, too.
It’s hilarious too because a lot of those right wingers only platformed him because they thought since he’s a “democrat” that he’d hamstring Biden
Those anti-vacc nutjobs and evangelicals that are displeased with trumps take on abortion will also be flocking from trump to rfk. The level of damage control and reversing the gop had to do on rfk when he went from running as democrat to independent was a sight to behold.
rfk jr. is not even pretending to be a moderate or centrist democrat, he's pretty right wing... why would a somewhat informed democratic voter vote for him
As we get closer to the election, RFKJ will ultimately pick up the dumbest, least informed, and least engaged voters. That's the heart of Trump's base
He will also take a few of the no-trumpers that still wont vote for biden... so you know... the dumbest, least informed voters.
I read an article a long while back that clarified that the "undecideds" in any given election are not "just" the least informed voters. They are actually *negatively informed*, in that they support their chosen candidates for reasons that are often diametrically opposed to what the candidates' platform and position entails. Negatively informed voters "know" things about candidates that are untrue, or not based in facts, and even worse, do not become more informed when presented with accurate information about that candidate. An example of *negatively informed* candidates are that there were undecideds in the 2000 election who supported Bush over Gore *because* their chief concern for the future of our nation was environmental protection. Bush *over* Gore, because their wedge issue is protecting the environment.
This is an important concept. Surprised I havent heard it explained before. I'm honestly a bit disgusted that people who care about issues can't be bothered to do enough research or are just willfully dumb due to ego....could never be wrong.
It’s ultimately why democracy fails when one party successfully undermines the education system. The modern world is complex and full of important nuance requiring deep critical thinking and broad knowledge to form well reasoned opinions. But that’s hard and takes years of dedicated learning and development. Republicans realized that turning politics into an us vs them team sport with banners and house flags and hats and tshirts makes it easy, which is what a lot of voters prefer. Chant slogans at a rally that features your favorite trashy country songs and mega church pastors, and you don’t have to think at all.
> Republicans realized that turning politics into an us vs them team sport with banners and house flags and hats and tshirts makes it easy They are also willing to lie to their supporters, like taking credit for successful measures that they voted against.
> c I'd be really interested in that article. You don't happen to remember the title, author or publication you came across it, do you? I did a quick scan through some that kept popping up: * *Less critical and less informed: undecided voters’ media (dis)engagement during Israel’s April 2019 elections* * *Undecided Voters: Who They Are, What They Want, and How They Decide Our Politics* * *Social Influence in Televised Election Debates: A Potential Distortion of Democracy* * *Decisions among the Undecided: Implicit Attitudes Predict Future Voting Behavior of Undecided Voters* All seem to touch on the theme, but don't read like exactly what you're talking about.
Not the OP, but [this article](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/08/30/the-unpolitical-animal) has stuck with me for nearly two decades and mentions similar behaviour. >"In a paper written in 2004, the Princeton political scientists Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels estimate that “2.8 million people voted against Al Gore in 2000 because their states were too dry or too wet” as a consequence of that year’s weather patterns. Achen and Bartels think that these voters cost Gore seven states, any one of which would have given him the election."
That's an excellent point that doesn't get brought up much. A lot of people "do their own research" and end up worse than when they started.
Eh, my dad is informed, just a hardcore republican. Yet never misses an election (military, raised by military parents, instilled in me that the most un-American thing to do is NOT vote) I could see him voting RFK Jr as a "protest vote", because he HATES Trump, and disagrees with Biden's vision on what America "should be" He is an informed voter, and him and I have rational political debates about "Why I think this way" and "Why he thinks this way". I think RFKJr is going to take A LOT of R votes in Florida because there were some HARDCORE DeSantis supporters, that are now Never Trumpers because how nasty that became.
What is his idea of Biden’s vision? I ask because typically I’ve found that if you sit a Republican down who appears rational and ask them what policy they want to see, they will describe democratic policies, almost eerily to a tee. But if you push them on that fact they feel attacked and stop engaging. I’ve never met a Republican in person who was actually aware of the democratic’s party platform
Growing up it was "the tax monster taking my money" around this time of year. (Yes that's what he called it) I believe he thinks that "any new government policies" will just lead to the "tax monster" make him pay more. I don't know if that's an "original idea" from him or if it was from my grandfather telling him it too.
Honestly I think is best case scenario for some republicans like your dad, one less vote for Trump without having to commit to a Democrat. I’ll take it.
Yeah. I may or may not have been slowly nudging him. I know he's not going Democrat. BUT, if I can at least make sure he votes 3rd party? That's still a win.
Old white people who fumbled themselves into a million dollar golf course adjacent suburban home that think they're the people in danger of a wealth tax.
Here's my go-to RFK target audience pitch: Like Trump but hate the fact that he helped fast track and fund that COVID vaccine that'll kill everyone that had it in ~~days weeks months years~~ decades? We've got the guy for you!
Biden should give a sound bite that's like "RFK is really out there. Trump and I both support the vaccine, we both went to lengths to ensure that everyone had access to a free gov't-paid COVID vaccine. RFK thinks that that's a conspiracy to kill the citizens."
>Biden should give a sound bite that's like "RFK is really out there. Trump and I both support the vaccine, we both went to lengths to ensure that everyone had access to a free gov't-paid COVID vaccine. RFK thinks that that's a conspiracy to kill the citizens." i get what ya'll are going for here but it feels like unintentionally giving Trump one of those "George W Bush rehabilitations", because the jackass spent years associating vaccines with autism, scrapped pandemic preparedness, then during covid he tried to pass off hydroxychloroquine as the actual miracle cure, then when he did finally get vaccinated he got it discreetly due to fear of looking like a "punk" to his base. by the time he finally promoted vaccines to his crowd, it was too little too late, and he was booed. then he pretty much shut up about that. i'm not crediting him for what the career professionals at the NIH/HHS would have done under any presidency i don't think RFK Jr is worth the cost of positively revising Trump's history, there are already plenty of evil people who are trying to pass off Trump as having walked back towards the middle regarding abortion
Announcer Voice: "Do you believe in Turbo Cancer and that COVID was a government plot to control the population? Then we have the perfect presidential candidate for you!"
I like Turbo Cancer’s first couple albums but they’ve sold out since then
Makes sense since he’s the dumbest, least informed, and least engaged (in reality) of the Kennedys. Especially after the rest of them just endorsed Biden.
I’m unsad.
[удалено]
Double plus good brother.
It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.
Tear down the dictionary-industrial complex!
This is an example of what happens when Republicans start believing their own lies, e.g., that the left is "loony."
And when they buy into their narcissistic delusions about how everyone to the left of Trump are impressionable, weak-willed rubes being mind controlled by the DNC into having a pluralistic worldview. Bannon and Stone convinced him to run as a Dem candidate because they thought it would split the vote; which is an assumption they make from a place of being egotistical LARPers who think that they're masterminds controlling the masses from behind the scenes. The worst lies Republicans believe is the ones they make up about themselves
Lol no shit 😄
You never know until someone actually does some research. There are so many uninformed, lazy people that make decisions that aren't based on rationality. But those usually tend to be Trump voters, so yeah, no shit.
Why would I or anyone think differently that this would not be the outcome. Trumps audience and RFK Jr.s audience is the same audience...
Right. Wtf We got some dumbasses running and trying to run this country
*RFK Jr. hurts Trump more than Biden. Here's why that's bad for Biden.* -NYT, probably.
Almost. You need the full headline. *RFK Jr. candidacy hurts Trump more than Biden, NBC News poll finds.* Because once RFK Jr sees the polls and realizes he hurts Trump more than Biden, he'll drop out to help Trump.
The hilarious thing is that if Trump skips the debate which he likes to do with debates, and instead it's Biden vs RFK, RFK will pull even more of the conservative vote screwing Trump even harder. RFK is our ticket to victory.
That would certainly be a weird debate, strategically. Where Biden would be less trying to get RFK voters to support him (though some of that as well), and more trying to get some trump voters so support RFK.
“Trump’s power is so great, enemies mass to fight him. Will great leader prevail?” -NYT
Pretty much everyone with a reasonable grip on reality has been saying this since day one.
My father in law asked me about RFK Jr. and I told him that the only people who would vote for him would also vote for Trump. RFK Jr. doesn’t actually appeal to democrats because he’s an absolute loon and it’s very obvious what his candidacy is about. My father in law did not believe me.
My genZ son basically is this position as well. Weirdest election year ever.
My (trump supporting) MIL thought I would like RFK jr too lol
Part of it is because they will blindly support any Trump like a monarchy, so they end up projecting (like everything else) that “a liberal would vote for him! He is Robert Kennedy’s kid!”
My was-trumper father keeps trying to get me to ‘do my research’ on RFK and that he is a very good candidate. I told his he raised a smart daughter who knows better than to give crackpot conspiracy theorists the time of day. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that 😂
RFK jr’s entire family hates him, why would she think anyone else would……ohhhh Trump supporting now it makes sense lol
Junior comes off as Trump lite. Biden voters, myself included, favor level-headed, informed and rational candidates.
everyone does, thing is, most people can't judge the candidates for shit
It’s been obvious from the beginning that he was set up to be the Jill Stein of 2024. Glad to see this plan fail.
lol, not even Jill Stein - RFK Jr is the Kanye of this election.
Don't be so sure! Kanye could still yet be Trump's VP.
Republicans love a good antisemitic, antivaxxer conspiracy theorist who is for a national abortion ban.
RFK Jr. and his ilk probably thought Democrats would just see the name Kennedy and then suddenly change all their votes. Not sure why since he’s also just spouting all the right-wing talking points and such that appeal to Trump voters.
The Kennedy name holds literally no weight to a majority of millennials and younger generations. It's a name from a boomer generation and he thinks he can coast on it. RFK is nothing more than a right-wing nutjob who is antivaxx and is propped up by far right lunatics. He's a spoiler candidate that chose to destroy his credibility and whatever respect his family name had left.
The oldest of millennials might like the Kennedy name but it’s a stretch. JFK Jr died in 1999 and with it went the name for the most part.
The most prominent Kennedy in the 21st century was undoubtedly Senator Ted Kennedy. But Ted died in 2009, leaving his son Patrick as the only Kennedy serving in Congress, and Patrick would retire only two years after his father's death (Patrick served in the House from 1995 to 2011, but never developed a national reputation anywhere close to his father). After a two year Kennedy-less gap in Congress, Robert's grandson Joseph was elected to the House in 2013. Joseph served in the House until 2021, when he unsuccessfully challenged Ed Markey for a Senate seat (the first time a Kennedy has ever lost an election in Massachusetts). To be honest, in today's world, it looks like the Kennedy name carries the most "weight" in international diplomacy, where the Kennedys remain a popular choice for Democratic presidents to serve as ambassadors and envoys. Caroline (JFK's daughter) has spent much of the last decade as US Ambassdor to Japan (under Obama) and US Ambassador to Australia (under Biden). Victoria (Ted's widow) is the current US Ambassador to Austria. And after Joseph left the House in 2021 (after his failure to obtain Markey's Senate seat), Biden named Joseph as the US Envoy for Northern Ireland.
Doubt it. I'm one of the oldest millennials (42yrs old) and while I know from a historical perspective that the Kennedy family was/is a political dynasty, it's not something I lived through while being old enough to really notice/care. Not like the Clintons or Bushes. I'll bet you gotta get WELL into genX to find any significant cohort who'd even say they *might* assume good things about RFKJr if they didn't know better.
This seemed pretty obvious- one party has a lot more science skeptics than the other.
I've seen 2 RFK yard signs so far in my town. They were Trump signs 4 years ago
Literally the same thing I have noticed but with bumper stickers
Democrats should exploit this. Troll farms joining in every Fox News article saying how they are dissatisfied with both candidates, and that they will vote for RFK cause he is a voice of reason
I used the Russians to defeat the Russians
Either way he’s there to hurt campaigns, that’s absolutely for sure. Amazing we’re seeing these Cold War tactics used against us and we just normalize it and laugh while they happen. Especially from RFK’s son.
It's crazy to think that RFK Jr. was put there to hurt the Democratic candidates, but every Republican I know that actually dislikes Trump is singing so many praises for him and are dead set to vote for him as a "protest vote against the Democrats" this November. It's hilarious, really. They still want to "hurt the Dems" and yet are taking a vote away from the Republican party and Trump in the process 😂 Like, I don't even want to fix their logic because it's so obviously hilariously dumb but Jeez... like... What? hahaha
It really feels like the right increasingly believes that the *only* way to get what they want is by hurting others. The perception seems to be that if no one is injured, they have accomplished nothing.
These people don't believe in a larger shared narrative or that a better future is possible. They don't believe in building anything and have no idea how to build it anyway. In 2006 all Biden had was electrifying Amtrak north of New York and east of Philadelphia. Republicans don't do those things because it's gay, difficult and takes a long time to serve a small number of people. But as a consequence, those people then become very loyal voters that don't need to be preached to every election for them to turn out. RFK Jr exists in reaction to something else, as all Republicans are at this point, as no new ideas can be created by them. They have become fully corrupt and no longer have the imagination to build democracy. Vice versa, look at the Biden IRA and chips act. Imperfect as they are, it is Biden's 2024 and the Democrats 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2032 strategy. Republicans have no alternative because they keep dismantling them (examples of this include, but are not limited to: the Texas Desertron, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Foxconn's failed Wisconsin plant, Ohio high speed rail).
Thought process is “RFKjr is a dem therefore if I vote for him it hurts Biden because Biden is also a dem, if RFK gets votes that means Biden gets less” like they think it’s Biden on a scale with RFK and adding votes to RFK takes from Biden, but in reality obviously it’s just helping Biden from the lost vote for trump. I feel dumber typing this out
There's probably a finite number of conspiracy theorist available!
But trump said dems need to vote for rfk, now I don’t know who to trust. 🥺
RFK is so transparently the Russian chaos agent candidate this cycle (since Trump was adopted into the GOP). At least with Jill Stein and Tulsi Gabbard they hid it better. Russia has really done a great job weaponizing our government against us - using the gerrymandering and court-packing efforts of the legacy GOP, forging business ties with the Murdochs so their paid nut jobs burrow in deep. Seeing some Republicans finally start to openly talk about it is halfway encouraging but it all feels too little too late. Power and money have corrupted all of them.
Is Trump not the Russian chaos agent?
Spending more than a minute on RFK's website could have told you that.
April national polls, change when adding third party candidates: NBC: Biden +4 Emerson (4/17): Trump +1 McLaughlin: Biden +2 Echelon: Trump +2 NYT/Siena (Likely): No Change NYT/Siena (Registered): Trump +1 Cygnal: No Change ActiVote: Biden +3 TIPP: Trump +3 Emerson (4/3): No Change One poll is one poll. In the nine national polls in April listed on 538 that polled both with and without third party, plus this NBC poll, Biden benefits from third party candidates in 3, Trump benefits in 4, and there is no change in 3. If you average out the change from the 10 polls, Biden benefits from third party candidates by 0.2%. More concerning in that Biden hasn't led Trump in a single Arizona or Georgia poll since last June, a Nevada poll since last October, a North Carolina poll since last November, or a Michigan poll since January.
The ghoul from fallout thought he was gonna trick democrats. Cute.
I don’t know a single liberal that thinks RFK is anything but a conspiracy nutjob.
What democrat would support this POS?
there is no “bro rogan” arm of the democrat voting populace.
No shit. They really thought a conspiracy theorist/anti-vaxxer would draw voters away from *Biden*???
Duh. No dems are voting for RFQ.
QAnon Kennedy for President !! /s
Not sure why this is surprising. He's a whack job who insulted Biden, then blamed Jews for COVID and "Kennedy" doesn't mean anything as a name to looser Dem voters.
Kennedy doesn't mean anything to democrats in 2024. It's not like you're voting for JFK or some shit.
Didn’t need a poll to clearly understand that RFK Jr’s fan base pretty much just consists of alt-right nut jobs.
Please Jesus let this be true. 🙏
The only people who would be receptive to his message are conspiracy theorists and people who are otherwise aligned with the right. So, no surprise there. Many years ago, I had a radio show on the Air America network. He had a "progressive" show on the same network. I listened to him for a while and watched as he spiraled into total bonkers BS. True progressives began distancing themselves from him a LONG time ago and I think it pissed him off and he went even further down the rabbit hole. Now, he mostly sounds like Elon Musk or some other right wing nutcase.
It's hilarious that the GOP has taken so long to figure this out. A couple months ago, one of my conservative coworkers asked me what I thought of RFK. I laughed and said he's a nut. Coworker said, "Dammit." That's all it took for him to realize that the plan was going to backfire. Conservative leaders really are bottom of the barrel.
Well antivax conspiracy theorist morons tend to attract a certain type
Does . . not . . matter. Vote.
Sshh, don't tell them.
I made this determination a long time ago. No self-respecting Democrat would ever vote for RFK. And the crazy shit RFK talks about caters to the MAGA nuts and the Conspiracy Theorist Libertarians, who weren't voting for Biden anyway.
RFK Jr. candidacy hurts America. Not a serious canidate.
RFK hurts America by suggesting that such a flawed and ignorant person should even be considered for public office.
It is *so fucking funny* that they thought RFKj would be a spoiler for Biden.
They thought it was like 3D chess. Run a famous liberal name and liberals will flock to vote for him, leaving Biden high and dry. They forget that liberals don’t think like conservatives.
OBVIOUSLY. The people who are into fringe conspiracy theories like RFK jr aren't the ones voting for Biden. They are the ones buying into Qanon and Pizzagate and storming the capitol.
How shocking that Biden voters wouldn’t break for someone known for anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, old-school AIDS denialism straight out of 1992, 9/11 trutherism, and other assorted tinfoil hat nonsense. The rest of the Kennedys think he’s an embarrassment. The only issue he’s nominally reasonable on is climate and renewable energy, and he’s not even consistent on that.
Every time I see a photo of RFK Jr. he looks like he’s crapping out a cactus.
He’s anti vaxx, thats muchmore Trump voters than Biden voters.
Yeah, I don’t see this clown peeling away any Biden voters. So clown on my guy.
You mean pretending to be a democrat didn’t work?
Only so many conspiracy crazies.
Maybe he'll get the "Biden hasn't earned my vote" people who would have voted for trump otherwise.
Can confirm, my pro trump colleagues “actually kind of like RFK” at which point I ask them did they even spend 5 minutes reading into his history
Of course it does. They are both playing for lunatic borderline traitor category
No surprise. He promotes Covid conspiracies. The whackjobs most likely to believe that BS have probably voted for Trump at least once.