Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. took center stage in Congress during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee panel on federal government censorship.
But although the topic of censorship is an appeal to Republicans, choosing Kennedy provided the GOP with an opportunity to promote one of President Joe Biden‘s primary opponents and embarrass the incumbent.
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No question Republicans handed Kennedy, the son of former Attorney General and New York Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of former President John Kennedy, a “megaphone” because he is running against Biden, according to Democratic strategist Mark Mellman.
“But it’s likely to backfire on them,” Mellman, an alumnus of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry‘s campaign, told the Washington Examiner. “[Kennedy] obviously comes from a family of Democratic royalty. But the evidence so far is clear: The more Democrats hear what this Kennedy has to say, the less they like him.”
Jim Kessler, centrist Democratic think tank Third Way’s policy executive vice president, similarly argued that the hearing “backfired” on Kennedy.
“He was praised to the hilt by the conspiracy theory wing of the Republican Party while trying to mount a long-shot challenge for the Democratic nomination,” Kessler said. “He looked awfully uncomfortable in his chair and had to know that he was simply being used by the Republican Party.”
“If it’s possible for his chances to be a serious Democratic candidate to be diminished even further, he accomplished that,” he added.
Although Kennedy does not present a significant threat to Biden’s nomination, his polling and fundraising undermine the president, whose average job approval-disapproval rating is 41%-53%, according to RealClearPolitics.
Biden averages 66% support in Democratic primary polls, per RealClearPolitics. Kennedy has surprised political pundits by averaging 14%. Biden’s campaign, excluding his joint fundraising arrangement with the Democratic National Committee, also raised $19.9 million during the second quarter, ending April through June with $20.1 million cash on hand, thanks to a transfer. Kennedy’s campaign raised $6.4 million for $4.5 million in cash on hand during the same time period after announcing his bid a month before the president in March.
For Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray, there is “room” for a protest vote in the Democratic primary, but that is “because voters want more options, not that they dislike Biden,” repeating the word “backfire.”
“To the extent that some Democrats have a favorable opinion of Kennedy, it’s because of his last name rather than knowing what he stands for,” he said. “The hearings could end up showing these voters how far out of step he is with the party.”
A Monmouth University poll found this week that Biden’s job approval-disapproval is 44%-52%, an improvement from last June when it was 36%-58%. Simultaneously, 25% of respondents consider the country to be on the right track, while 68% think it’s headed in the wrong direction. Last summer, 10% agreed and 88% disagreed.
The White House has been careful when criticizing Kennedy to not make an in-kind contribution to his campaign. But press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not resist when she was asked about Kennedy’s COVID-19 remarks, in which he alleged during a dinner with reporters that COVID-19 was “targeted to” certain ethnicities while Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews were more immune.
“The claims made on that tape is false. It is vile. They put our fellow Americans in danger,” she said this week. “If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things. It’s an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans. And so, it is important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly.”
Democrats had called on House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) to disinvite Kennedy to the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Thursday after his comments were made public last weekend. Even Kennedy’s sister Kerry condemned them as “deplorable and untruthful” in a statement from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
“Why would you give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a congressional platform to spew his hatred? Here’s the answer: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a living, breathing false-flag operation,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Thursday. “His whole campaign is being run by right-wing political operatives who have one objective: try to take down President Joe Biden.”
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Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, defended himself and his campaign during the hearing, adamant that he is not a racist or an antisemite amid criticism of his positions against vaccines and certain medications.
“If the views that you and others have applied to me … were actually true, I can see why I shouldn’t be able to testify here today. Those are not true,” he said. “These are defamations and malignancies that are used to censor me to prevent people from listening to the actual things that I’m saying.”
