A SURPRISINGLY GOOD PIECE ON…
A SURPRISINGLY GOOD PIECE ON
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR
ON NEWSWEEK
"You mean keep my mouth shut?" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. retorts when Newsweek asks him why he doesn't stop promoting conspiracy theories as he challenges President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination.
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Kennedy's message has at least struck a chord among some of the increasing number of people shown by opinion polls to mistrust American institutions and the media, of which he is strongly critical.
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"The way you do research is not by asking authoritative figures what they think. Trusting experts is not a feature of science, and it's not a feature of democracy. It's a feature of religion and totalitarianism," Kennedy said ...
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"I'm not scared of a germ," he adds. "What scares me is my children growing up in an America where they don't have Constitutional rights."
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Kennedy responds to criticism of his positions with the argument that he is a proponent of free speech, accusing the Biden administration of orchestrating censorship—again in part over COVID.
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"I'm the last liberal. A JFK, RFK, FDR liberal. I'm for middle-class labor, the environment, anti-war, anti-corporatist takeover of government agencies, anti-subversion of democracy without redress, and protection of minorities," Kennedy said.
"Real liberals don't censor, and he (Biden) has been promoting censorship from the White House. He's been working with social-media companies to silence his critics, including me," he said, accusing social-media companies of continuing to censor him.
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Kennedy acknowledges that his safety is always a concern given his family history, but no security tags along on the mountain hike. He says he'll soon be getting Secret Service protection, which is typically offered to presidential candidates after 30 days of polling at 15 percent or more.
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"I've known President Biden for 50 years. Nothing against him, but America needs a new direction, in the world and at home."
That new direction begins by not shutting down debate, including in the media, Kennedy said.
"The press is never fair," he said. "But I don't want to sound like a victim."
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