Well, after two animal death scandals, some sexual assault accusations, brain worms, and plummeting poll numbers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s political campaign is effectively over. Kennedy said on Friday he was “pausing” his campaign, but interested voters could still vote for him in non-swing states. Moreover, Kennedy’s decision to endorse Donald Trump in the presidential campaign was undoubtedly one of the clearest expressions of a man openly betraying his own so-called values in order to curry favor with political power.
In a concession speech, Kennedy claimed that he felt compelled to support Trump because they had common interests. These interests, as can be seen, are “free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children,” as the candidate put it. “These are the principled reasons that convinced me to leave the Democratic Party, run as an independent, and now support President Trump,” Kennedy said.
Indeed, both Kennedy and Trump spent a lot of time harping on these issues and, objectively, are on record as expressing concerns about them. But it could also be demonstrated that the candidate’s interest in the above topics is, all things considered, somewhat new and therefore not necessarily evidence of long-term interests or values. As is often the case in politics, they can be politically convenient gestures that benefit necessary groups of voters.
However, in his speech on Friday, Kennedy also reflected on what are undoubtedly perennial issues within his brand, issues he claims he still cares deeply about: health care, protecting the environment, easing the regulatory stranglehold on American business and working for Americans. Provide healthy food. In his speech, Kennedy seemed to wildly suggest that Trump would take some steps to advance these goals.
Onlookers could say there are only two ways to explain Kennedy’s support of Trump. The first is to assume that Kennedy was very, very stupid. Only someone with the intelligence of a tadpole would believe that Donald Trump would accomplish what Kennedy clearly wanted Trump to accomplish. Another explanatory strategy is to assume that Kennedy was exactly like this. In other words, Kennedy is not truly invested in the values he says he values (the environment, the health of Americans, etc.), or at least is willing to completely and utterly betray those values to support Trump.
To support both arguments, here are some of the issues that Kennedy claimed he cared about, and Trump’s record on them. Astute observers will notice that the contrast is stark.
JFK was full of shit (or idiots) about protecting the environment
The kindest thing you can say about Kennedy’s support of Trump is that it is a betrayal of everything he has done in his career as an environmental lawyer. Even if many of Kennedy’s complaints about Democrats are true, one thing that’s indisputable is that Democrats are light years ahead of Republicans when it comes to protecting the environment. So, from the perspective of someone who truly cares about the natural world, supporting Trump is inexcusable. Trump notably repealed more than 100 environmental regulations and nominated a man with close ties to the Koch brothers and the oil lobby to head the EPA. Plan 2025, a policy blueprint written by the Heritage Foundation and a small group of former Trump officials, would dismantle the EPA, defund multiple weather agencies, ban official use of the term “climate change,” and Take a range of other measures. Trump has even proposed privatizing protected federal lands so they can be used to build “cities of the future.”
JFK was full of shit (or idiots) about health care
Kennedy also mentioned health care several times and said he believed the U.S. health care system needed to be fixed. Not only has Trump repeatedly tried to kill Obamacare, the only government program that has made health care affordable for tens of millions of Americans, but Plan 2025 will also seek to cut consumer health benefits enacted by the Biden administration. For example, negotiating drug prices. According to Rolling Stone, the plan is supported by lobbying groups representing the pharmaceutical industry. The 2025 plan would also seek to strengthen Medicare Advantage, a privatized version of Medicare — a move that, as America for Progress puts it, would represent a “billion-dollar giveaway to corporations” while also “limiting the benefits of older Americans. people’s health care choices while also limiting the health care choices of older Americans.” Putting the future of Medicare at risk. “
JFK was full of shit (or idiot) about health food
In his lengthy concession speech on Friday, Kennedy spent considerable time talking about “chronic disease” and obesity. He went on to suggest that Donald Trump (who is reportedly obese himself) would address both issues, a move that should make most onlookers laugh so hard they can’t finish their lunch. If Trump’s past policies are any indication, Kennedy was wrong here. In 2018, reports emerged that a snack food and corn syrup lobbyist had been appointed to oversee food policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Again, I can’t understand why Kennedy thought the man who filled the White House with Big Macs would help low-income Americans wean themselves off fast food.
Kennedy is full of shit (or an idiot) on “regulatory capture”
Perhaps the most puzzling thing Kennedy said on Friday was that he supports an end to corporate “regulatory capture” and wants Donald Trump to take action on it. On Friday, Kennedy said he wanted a leader who could “remove corporate influence from the government,” and Trump has “embraced” that issue. Again, the silliness here is class. During Trump’s first administration, he effectively tried to turn the federal government into a corporate brothel, allowing various industries to effectively write regulatory rules. A 2019 ProPublica investigation found an “alarming” number of former corporate lobbyists among Trump’s political appointees, about 281 appointees, or one in every 14 appointees. vision for a future presidential term, much like Trump’s first dope administration. Why on earth would Kennedy expect Trump to “purge corporate influence” from government when his first priority seems to be maximizing corporate influence?
