Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blamed the media for dragging his campaign Sunday, saying he has been slammed “even more than President Trump was slammed” by mainstream media outlets.

“I’ve been really, you know, slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented,” Kennedy said during an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who is running a longshot primary campaign against President Joe Biden, is more popular among Republicans than Democrats, according to polling.

The nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, Kennedy Jr. has been hit with backlash for his stances on vaccines, particularly recent comments he made suggesting that the coronavirus could have been “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” while sparing Jewish and Chinese people. Kennedy denied allegations of racism and antisemitism, saying on Twitter: “I have never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews.”

“I mean, listen, if I believed the stuff that’s written about me in the papers and reported about me on the mainstream news sites, I would definitely not vote for me,” Kennedy told host Maria Bartiromo. “I would think I was a very despicable person.”

  • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Although the media hit Trump really hard, the left-on-left violence seems pretty unprecedented.

    It;s clear that the left knows that he’s not establishment, like Biden is, and that if he got a fair chance, he’d probably stomp Biden.

    • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Where is exactly is the left in this fight? The media is hardly the left and RFK Jr. is an alt-right candidate using his family’s name as cover to masquerade as a Democrat.

      • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Almost all TV media is left wing. Most online media is left wing. Social media is left wing.

        RFK Jr. is an alt-right candidate

        Can you define alt-right?

        Generally folks who are alt right aren’t willing to sign a gun ban, generally aren’t pro-choice, aren’t for college loan forgiveness, doesn’t champion trans rights, nor other LGBTQ rights, generally aren’t for nationalized drug recovery centers, aren’t anti-war, don’t fully condemn every white supremicist, anti-semite or anti asian rhetoric.

        If you really think he’s alt-right, we have different depictions of what the ‘alt-right’ are.

        • TwoGems@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          lol he’s literally a chaos agent for Steve Bannon. The only person who would vote for him is a confused Democrat or a Republican would push him.

          https://www.salon.com/2023/04/06/steve-bannon-spent-months-recruiting-anti-vaxxer-rfk-jr-to-run-against-biden-as-chaos-agent/

          He’s an alt right astro turf.

          “People familiar with the matter told the outlet that Bannon hoped Kennedy could serve as a “useful chaos agent” in the election while also spreading “anti-vaccine sentiment around the country,” according to CBS News’ Robert Costs.”

          And oh wow, he’s doing just that.

          • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You linked a salon article that says a private source says that bannon secretly tried to get someone to run.

            Any, ya know, reliable sources?

            • TwoGems@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Steve Bannon has actively supported RFK on his podcast War Room. Just go watch War Room live.

              “Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has spent nearly two years promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and Democratic presidential primary candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his War Room podcast in a mutually beneficial relationship that could have disastrous public health consequences for the country and the world.”

              Steve Bannon only pushes specific alt right candidates. So why would he suddenly push Rfk Jr. Because he’s suddenly benevolent? He has direct ties to Qanon. There is major incentive to push RFK Jr. from a chaos agent standpoint.

              "Even relative to other right-wing media, Bannon’s podcast is a hotbed of conspiracy theories, many of which relate directly to COVID-19 and vaccines. He frequently pushes junk science from discredited charlatans like Naomi Wolf, has celebrated efforts to disrupt vaccine distribution, and claimed the pandemic was everything from a way to eradicate religion to a form of global war deliberately unleashed by China.

              Given this feverish and paranoid atmosphere, it’s not surprising that Bannon amplified Kennedy’s longstanding efforts to discredit safe and effective vaccines, including those that protect against COVID-19, and has now latched onto his nascent campaign. Both are ecumenical and opportunistic in their conspiracism, including pushing QAnon messages and influencers."

              https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-has-spent-years-promoting-rfk-jr-and-his-crackpot-anti-vaccine-theories

              There are sources in each article. Or you could, ya know, just go watch Steve Bannon for a while and RFK talk, and research his links to all this.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Delusions as fuck. Media in this country is all run by the extremely wealthy. To call it left wing is laughable. Neo-liberalism (democrats) are borderline conservative and that’s who runs the media. Just cuz you’ve been brainwashed into thinking centerist big corporate politicians are “left wing” doesn’t make it true.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Almost all TV media and social media is run by corporations who only care about making money. That’s hardly left-wing.

            • Space_Jamke@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              The guy who paid 45 billion dollars to lift bans on several infamous wingnut trolls like Catturd and turned a bird logo into an X for clout doesn’t seem like a Democrat to me. Neither is the billionaire oil baron who owns Fox News, Sky News, Fake News, etc., the former of which is the largest media company in America. You’re not an underdog.

              • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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                The guy who paid 45 billion dollars to lift bans on several infamous wingnut trolls like Catturd and turned a bird logo into an X for clout doesn’t seem like a Democrat to me.

                He’s the opposite of how the former ownership ran twitter for the past 10 years. I didn’t hear you removed about it then.

                And, having uniform/unbanning regardless of political affiliation is how I believe media should be. It shouldn’t be bias.

                Fox News, Sky News, Fake News, etc., the former of which is the largest media company in America. You’re not an underdog.

                Fox news is the only right wing cable network. NBC, MSNBC, CNN ABC are all left

        • Fugicara@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Almost all TV media is left wing. Most online media is left wing. Social media is left wing.

          Literally none of this is true. The only universe this is true in is the one where anything left of fascism is “left wing.”

        • jaybirrd@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You make a great point here. It’s so common to boil one view down to a label, and then people use that label to extrapolate a whole set of views, many of which the individual may not ascribe to. Example: he’s anti vax which is an alt right viewpoint, therefore he is alt right. You tell someone that he is alt right and then that person thinks he is bigoted toward LGBTQ+, donates to the NRA, pickets outside of abortion clinics, etc.

          I’m not saying any of this in support of RFK Jr at all, just that this concept is detrimental to all rational discourse. Labels are a helpful part of language in categorizing things, but they can also be really dangerous when you default to using them in every situation even if they don’t fit.

          • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Example: he’s anti vax which is an alt right viewpoint,

            No it’s not, it’s traditionally fringe left - see hippies.

            just that this concept is detrimental to all rational discourse.

            Agreed. You don’t perfectly fit into one box, and the fact that one side will trash you if you don’t perfectly align and vote how their party votes is absurd

    • jeffw@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A vaccine conspiracy theorist has no chance against any sane person

    • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Holy fuck you’re a crazy GQP guy eh? This guy is a complete joke to every democrat/left wing/liberal person I know. No one will vote for him. His entire purpose is to try and get some of the crazy anti vax conspiracy weirdoes who are left in the Democratic party to not vote for Biden.

      • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Holy fuck you’re a crazy GQP guy eh?

        Depends, what’s GQP?

        This guy is a complete joke to every democrat/left wing/liberal person I know.

        You must have a shitty circle. He’s seen more favorably than any other candidate, and has the lowest unfavorable ratings. Once you get away from the headlines from the MSM, and just watch a few interviews, you can see why. He’s for unity for the country, getting away from the power of the CIA and war mongerers.

        Those headlines don’t make money, stopping the military industrial complex doesn’t make money, and fighting against a bloated executive branch isn’t good for the dems.

        • Pratai@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          You’ve GOT to tell us how good that Kool-Aid is. Because for you to be that far up that walking misinformation campaign’s ass- it’s GOT to be amazing.

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Oh ya, totally. He’s going to take down the military industrial complex man. TRUMP DRAINED THE SWAMP SOOOO HARRRRRDDDDDD. I mean, he replaced the crocodiles with his toad ass children and son in law to grift up more than ever before, but he drained it first.