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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was 14 years old when his father was assassinated while campaigning for the U.S. Presidency. Robert F. Kennedy gave his life in pursuit of a vision for a brighter future and of national pride and economic progress for everyday Americans. Stoking the coals of derision was abhorrent to him. So for many of the Kennedy Democrats, it was unsettling back in 2005 to see RFK’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoting debunked conspiracy theories about the CDC and children vaccines causing autism. To date, not a shred of evidence supports those claims, but that didn’t stop this once relevant environmentalist from doubling down on them. The Covid vaccine was just additional fodder for his anti-vaxxer rhetoric.
Still, the Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic party and its ideology. It is no wonder that billionaire buddies of Trump would fund his campaign for President. The idea was to draw Democratic votes and left leaning independent votes away from Biden and later, Harris. What was NOT anticipated was the draw of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy nuts away from Trump. In a close race, that kind of draw could end up being another 2016 Jill Stein spoiler event. At the time, she siphoned 1.5 Million votes in key swing states giving Trump the electoral college edge.
With Harris entering the fray and garnering headlines, massive enthusiasm, huge donations, and positive polling, Trump had to shift gears and bring Kennedy into the fold. There was no other way but to get Kennedy to stop campaigning. But how????
Well, on July 16th of this year, RFK, Jr.’s son, Robert, III videotaped and then released a call Trump made to RFK lamenting about vaccines for children and then seemingly offering him a job saying, “Anyway, I would love for you to serve,” Trump tells Kennedy. “I think it would be so good for you and so big for you. And we’re gonna win — we’re gonna win — we’re way ahead of the guy.”
Let’s pause here for a moment. At the time of the call, it was known that RFK, Jr. was shopping his endorsement around. He had called Biden who would not return his calls, and he had called Trump, who obviously DID return his call. In this context, it is reasonable to assume, under the “reasonable person” standard, that the offer of employment to a guy who was shopping his endorsement around could be viewed as either a direct or indirect promise of employment as consideration, favor or reward for any political activity or for the support or opposition to any candidate in connection with a general election to a political office. In short, it would be considered in violation of THE LETTER AND INTENT of U.S. Code Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 29 § 600. The actual wording of the Law is as follows:
Whoever, directly or indirectly, promises any employment, position, compensation, contract, appointment, or other benefit, provided for or made possible in whole or in part by any Act of Congress, or any special consideration in obtaining any such benefit, to any person as consideration, favor, or reward for any political activity or for the support of or opposition to any candidate or any political party in connection with any general or special election to any political office, or in connection with any primary election or political convention or caucus held to select candidates for any political office, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Let’s pause here for a moment. At the time of the call, it was known that RFK, Jr. was shopping his endorsement around. In this context, it is reasonable to assume that the offer of employment to a guy who was shopping his endorsement around could be viewed as either a direct or indirect promise of employment as consideration, favor or reward for any political activity or for the support or opposition to any candidate in connection with a general election to a political office. In short, it would be considered in violation of THE LETTER AND INTENT of U.S. Code Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 29 § 600.
Then, this past Tuesday, Kennedy remarked that he would be working in the Trump Administration on health matters. Trump intimated that he would let him blow up a three letter agency (assumedly, the CDC since that was Kennedy’s focus with all of his debunked conspiracy theories for the past 19 years. Trump’s campaign staff quickly walked it back in what was clearly a CYA effort. Of course, on Friday, Kennedy announced his campaign suspension and his endorsement of Trump, a man he only recently called a sociopath.
Throwing away a family legacy of Democratic values to throw support to a felon, a civilly convicted sexual assaulter, a civilly convicted defrauder of students at his fake university and a suspected racist who, in 1975, along with his father and their company, entered into a consent decree, settling the Department of Justice’s litigation. The agreement contained no admission of wrongdoing, but required the Trump firm to institute a series of safeguards to make sure apartments were rented without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin, is obviously painful to observe from the outside. Moreover, his siblings have a an even stronger feeling of utter shock and disbelief that their own flesh and blood would spit on the memory of his father and their family’s legacy. In fact, 5 members of the Kennedy family posted the following on social media:
“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride.
We believe in Harris and Walz.
Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear.
It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
I couldn’t agree more.
But the real test will be when Trump and/or RFK, Jr. is/are brought up on charges for this violation…if he/they ever will be. Time will tell.