Republicans Should Be More Skeptical of RFK Jr.

Samuel Mangold-Lenett writes for the Federalist about some Republicans’ fascination with a progressive from a famous family.

Republican voters seeking an alternative to the status quo should be more skeptical about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The son of Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, RFK Jr. is a longtime liberal Democrat who broke with party orthodoxy during the Covid-19 pandemic to criticize mRNA injections, censorship of dissent, and the corrupt synthesis of state and corporate power. In doing so, he garnered a loyal following of Americans who were fed up with having their civil liberties impeded — many of whom happened to be Republican voters.

In recent times, he’s produced works like “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health,” appeared in documentaries produced by Tucker Carlson, and spoken at Hillsdale College about Big Pharma and the deep state’s roles in undermining American health standards. As a result, it is understandable why some Republicans view him as a reliable vehicle through which a conservative political agenda might be advanced. 

Formally launching his 2024 campaign for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination a little more than a week ago, RFK Jr. stated his “mission” as president would be “to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening … to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism.” He emphasized this same fascistic merger’s commitment to “strip min[ing] our assets, to hollow[ing] out the middle class” so they can perpetuate grievances and keep Americans afraid of one another.

“People are preparing for a dystopian future,” he said, noting the public’s despondence over the increasingly unbridgable cultural divides.

His announcement speech focused on achieving cultural renewal and American togetherness by fighting against things like the “corporate captive” media and government. In ways, RFK Jr. sounded more like a government-skeptical Republican than a leftist, identity politics-obsessed Democrat.