Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently transitioned from being a Democrat to running as an independent, has a long history of endorsing and supporting two-time failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, despite positioning himself as a vocal critic of the Washington, D.C. establishment.
As recently revealed by Fox News, Kennedy’s public history of supporting Clinton dates back to 2000 when he praised her “character” in a campaign ad during her U.S. Senate race in New York.
This support continued eight years later when he endorsed her 2008 presidential run, highlighting her strength and experience in a press release. Kennedy stated, “Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to bring the war in Iraq to an end and reverse the potentially devastating effects of global warming.”
Kennedy, who recently announced his candidacy as an Independent for the 2024 presidential election, was a prominent supporter of Clinton during her quest for the White House against eventual President Barack Obama. He actively campaigned for her and expressed his approval when she was appointed as Obama’s Secretary of State, referring to her as “great.”
Even in the 2016 presidential race, when Donald Trump emerged victorious, Kennedy did not waver in his endorsement of Clinton, describing her as a potential “very, very good president” during an interview with Larry King. Their friendship, he noted, was “long-term.”
Could RFK Jr. Become President?
Adam Bruton, a Senior Researcher at the London-based intelligence firm Winter Circle Ltd, told 19FortyFive that: “RFK Jr is essentially a Bush-era leftist, and thus promotes a conspiratorial, anti-government form of leftism, married with a deeply isolationist, reactionary, and anti-American foreign policy.
“RFK’s political beliefs are essentially an incoherent smorgasbord. He seems somewhat of a contrarian too. But the core strands of isolationism, anti-big business populism, anti-vaxx politics, and conspiratorial “deep state” control over American society.
“Him backing Hillary is unsurprising, not because she has the exact same beliefs as him, but because Bush-era leftism, obviously, put a lot of stake in opposing Bush himself, and Hillary was the most visible mainstream person opposed to Bush during his presidency.
“I don’t think he’s a secret spoiler for Trump or for Biden. I just think he thinks his name is enough to get him over the line,” Bruton said. “But it also does tie in with his ideological persuasion in that the Democrats are no longer as tolerant of crank conspiracy theorists like they were in the Bush era.
“The interesting thing is how a decent portion of Americans not only kind of associate with this populist thinking, but also how it has become much more of a republican talking point when they historically were the institutionalist party,” explained Bruton. “I still think RFK Jnr’s appeal, at least in this election cycle, will fizzle out early next year.”
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
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