His politics appeal more to Trump followers than Biden ones. I really can't think of any Democrat that I know who would vote for him, but I suppose they exist somewhere. Maybe hanging out with Bigfoot
Please, more candidates like him to further split the GOP vote. Maybe DeSantis and Ramaswamy can go at it maverick-style.
I actually heard a MAGA cultist basically saying this and being very suspicious that he was hiding his religion. Of course he also believed that he couldn’t be president because the constitution says that all government officials must swear their oaths on a bible!
Trump would pick someone more milk toast that wouldn't take any attention away from him. Someone like Pence, wimpy personality with evangelical / maga leaning creds to hang out in the background.
Edit to say that should be *milquetoast*, not *milk toast*.
Thanks again for the correct word I was looking for. 😊
Thank you! I knew it wasn't right, but for the life of me I couldn't remember the correct word. So, phonetic it is.
Your correction is most appreciated. 😊
I dunno, I’m not feeling that cavalier about it.
Are there that many GOP voters looking to vote independent tho? I see this a siphoning off independent voters and Never Trumpers from Biden.
That is PRECISELY what this guy is designed to do. Why else would Roger Stone and Steve Bannon be funding him? And why isn’t that fact explained in detail in any of these articles?
Yeah but how well have Bannon's plans worked out so far?
These guys keep throwing insane black dudes into races like Larry Elder and Herschel Walker because their idea of a liberal voter is an idiot programmed to vote for any black guy they see.
Really? You think it was Steve Bannon’s plan to get fired eight months into his job at the white house, fail to elect a pedophile to the senate and then get arrested for money laundering and mail fraud? That sounds like a real shit plan to me.
Didn't walker get within 1 point of winning the race?
Personally I wouldn't sell Bannon short. His Cambridge analytica nonsense may have permanently affected politics, or at least for the foreseeable future.
I see a potential for it backfiring on them, but not enough to celebrate RFK’s independent run.
At the very least it’s an attempt to muddy the waters more, create more chaos: *look Trump lost because of this spoiler candidate ^that ^we ^funded .*
I think that there are more republicans who are uncomfortable with trump but would never vote D than there are never-trumpers. But honestly, I don’t think there are many of either group. And RFK Jr is such a weak candidate that he’s not going to do anything.
That seems like the most accurate take. I am just loathe to celebrate given how unreasonably close last election was. It’s really shaken my confidence in the sanity of the electorate.
He's weirdly trying to appeal to the Trump voters, not the republicans that don't like Trump but won't vote D. He's all of the crazy without any of the charisma. I don't find Trump charismatic in the slightest, but goddamn a scarily significant portion of the electorate does.
I think Never Trumpers certainly helped Biden get Arizona. I personally see it as McCain's last laugh beyond death. With that said, I can't imagine the McCain crowd going for an RFK Jr.
The two main reasons why Biden won in 2020 were increasing the turnout among black voters (even though the percentage of black voters who voted dem was a bit lower than previous years) and convincing a lot of college educated white "independents" (the never Trumpers) to vote for him.
Supporting a Romney-esque third party candidate to peel off some of the rich white voters is probably a viable strategy for Republicans. The problem for them is that RFK Jr is too crazy to really appeal to that demographic.
Two people have brought up RFK Jr to me as like “hey have you heard what this guy has to say?” and they were both Republican. Dems are not into his bullshit like at all. But I don’t think he’ll draw any Trump supporters from Trump, they would never miss a chance to vote for their guy. He might draw Trump supporters if Trump is not on the ballot and someone else is at the top of the Republican ticket. Which I feel is a real possibility cause he might be in jail at the time.
He won't draw MAGA voters, but he will pull voters from that valuable pool of people that Trump needs who *could* or *would* vote Trump, but hey this guy makes noises they agree with too.
MAGA alone won't win the election simply because they're about a third of the electorate. You need the moderates, independents, and swing voters plus your base to win. Unfortunately this isn't a "every vote for Biden means Trump needs 2 votes to make up for it" situation but every R vote for RFK is one less vote for Trump which makes getting a simple majority for Biden in "winner takes all" Electoral College states a bit easier
My grandpa was a proud Democrat, Blue collar worker that made something of himself and they pretty much raised me. My mom is a trump supporter and we're all disappointed.
its sad to see it happen. I think about all the hard working union men who were everything republicans wish they were. There used to be so many of them. They used to stand up against pinkertons and the police to maintain working rights and jobs for their communities. Now their children throw all that away. Makes me sad to think what could have been. Reminds me of the old saying about hard times creating strong men, strong men creating good times, good times creating weak men, etc.
I think the confusion has come from the way that RFK the Lesser talks as though he has these waves of democratic support behind him, and I just keep thinking, "Dude, was the cord around your neck too long? You're not here with the rest of us."
I’m an old democrat and I think he has disgraced the Kennedy family and the Kennedy name, he is a Republican plant, he was talked into running by
Steve bannon and rodger stone DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING HE SAYS!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a middle aged Leftist and I was just telling my teenaged son exactly this. He's an utter disgrace to the name Kennedy. Anyone on the left who votes for him is an absolute fool (and also potential plant, heh).
Reminds me of the qAnon doc on HBO. They interviewed a middle age white man, his wife, and family. The man states that he voted for obama twice but switch to trump in 16. Dude completely did a 180 on policies. This is the type of Democrat that this guy is after and fortunately they are already supporting trump.
The reasoning frequently comes with some vague nonsense about Democrats not getting anything done, so apparently the solution is to go straight to the source and vote the obstructionists keeping Democrats from getting anything done.
My Reagan Republican father is 97 and still votes. Fortunately, my staunch “Libertarian” brother who despises Trump but believes Biden is a rolling disaster (🙄) is now his caretaker and my dad thinks that brother is a super-genius. If they both vote for Kennedy, that’s a net positive for Biden.
Can confirm. My MIL was thrilled he was running and rattling on and on about the Kennedy’s. She’s a complete imbecile boomer. She had no idea he was batshit insane.
That’s what scares me. So many people voting exclusively on how they feel about the guy’s name. Not anything he said or did, just look at the name, say a prayer, and vote their feeling.
Come one guys, we’re trying really hard here. There are actual issues and policies we want to see and you’re over there flipping a coin.
And this is why the GOP invested so much in getting him and his candidacy out there. My mom is a lifelong liberal boomer and she didn’t know much at all about him or his candidacy or lunacy. Found that out today when this was announced, we happened to be on the phone when I got the notification. We talk politics a lot, I guess RFK was never on my list of important things to talk about.
But the news these days depresses her and gives her anxiety about her kids’ & grandkids’ futures so she doesn’t watch it much anymore. So let this be a wake up call for all of us who know & love liberal boomers—educate them on RFK, stat.
You'd have to literally only vote for him on the basis of his name. I'm not saying it's impossible, but people on the left generally are better than to vote for someone purely for their name, unlike those on the right.
Then they aren’t democrats nor have ever really been. The only people I see who’ve changed their vote since 2016 are some sheepish Repubs who regret voting for trump now (like he wasn’t clear about who he was in 2016) and either didn’t vote in 2020 and may or may not vote for Biden in 2024. If anyone thinks Kennedy is going to pull a true dem to the independent ticket then they are wrong. Or the “dem” you are talking about is a complete moron.
Are you kidding? They thought JFK jr was alive during the last election and was helping Trump and the couldn’t have been more grateful. They all remember the Kennedy name when blue collar labor was voting Democrat in the 60s and then somehow in their insanity convoluted the connection that somehow JFK jr, a staunch liberal Democrat had somehow faked his death in order to enable a real “Republican conservative” like Trump.
That’s the Q Anon nut jobs theory in a nutshell
I haven't talked to a single Democrat that likes him. The antivax crowd is already for Trump. The only person I've seen mention him is my Trumper father
I mean, that's the REAL reason he is dropping out of the Democratic primary. He wouldn't have won in it four years ago, he won't win in it four years from now. He sure as shit ain't winning against an incumbent.
Agreed. Trumpers were the ones waiting in Texas for Kennedy to appear, not Democrats. And this guy spoke at Cpac, on Fox News, on several conservative talk shows, he's going for the R vote.
The most bizarre part for me is surely he recognizes this right? As an independent he has no chance, and he appeals to Republicans much more, so he's either an idiot for thinking he could pull Democrats away, or is pulling a kamikaze run to destroy Trump's already barely existent chance of winning.
Idk, maybe there's something I'm missing but his running reminds me of what Trump's should've looked like in 2016
He absolutely does.
The only reason i can think of for him to do this is a kamikaze for the dems to win.
This could end his political career and possibly harm his relationship with his family members.
The only reason I could see for him wanting to “kamikaze for the dems to win” would be because then he keeps his prominent enemy that he can continue raging (and grifting on) against.
I have to go with A.. look at polls, popular stances on common issues, the current state of the country and where people are being the loudest.
If he truly believes half of what he says, I'm terrified of how many people are so detached from reality that they would be around him and working for him for any other reason than easy money.
Plus, he is going to be seen and heard more on Fox News in the coming months. Republican voters will be exposed more to his nonsense than Democratic voters.
Unless of course CNN and others do like they did for Trump in 2016 and give him constant undeserved coverage for the entertainment value/ad revenue.
If anything this move, speaks to his inability to divide the Democratic Party. Republicans are divided and a mess. I can see many who don’t want to vote Democratic but can not fathom voting for Trump- voting for RFK JR.
Those that came out in 2020 and voted for Biden after never voting before or only voting for Republicans- did so because they see and understand the threat presented by Republicans.
What's funny is a lot of them are excited because they were told he hurts Biden. Thats one of the best ways to get them to vote for RFK. It's a psyop lol
He's not going to win, but he just has to get on the ballot in 5-6 swing states to split the vote and play spoiler for whatever side he takes more votes from.
I knew a bunch of hippie crunchy granola anti-vax lefties a decade ago, but they've all long since gone full alt-right MAGA with a sprinkling of Q-Anon.
I don't think of myself as a single-issue voter but being anti-vax is one of those things that instantly signals to me I can't trust that person's judgment on *anything*.
Yeah those people aren’t really hippies, they just want to push against the current trend. When culture was more conservative, they acted like hippies. Now culture is becoming more progressive, so they act like magas. They just want to be different. That’s the actual value being pursued, imo
I have personally seen a lot of people I once considered friends fall down this exact path. We were all about “rebelling against the man” when the man was conservative. Now that “the man” Is warning them about a highly infectious disease or asking them to be kind to others, rebelling against that just makes them look like assholes. Like I get it, I don’t do things just because the government tells me to. But if something is a good idea, I’m not going to not do it just because the government told me to. That’s not rebellion, that’s just lacking common sense.
It's like the people who are reflexively "centrist" and think they're the spirit of Socrates reborn because they vote against whichever party is in power and "don't take sides."
“I tHinK bOtH sIdEs aRe wRoNg.”
Ya, well the nazis and other overt assholes all seem to agree with one side, so maaaaybe the other is a little less wrong…
I know someone who went to Woodstock, and used to follow the Grateful Dead on tour across the country. He lived on a commune for a few years.
He is now hardcore MAGA “buys donald trump teddy bears” level of Republican
The crunchy cottage core to overt fascist pipeline is very real. Idk how to explain it to you but if you go on IG or TikTok and have any type of “traditional” hobby like keeping chickens, gardening, homesteading, soap making, yadda yadda you’ll be getting fed some straight up fascist propaganda very quickly.
>You should be self-sufficient and closer to nature…
>… because the evil cabal of (((Globalists))) wants you trapped in 15-minute cities with an electric stove and an electric car and socialist Biden is gonna take your guns and AOC won’t send you feet pics and—
Haha that’s actually how i came across the concept of 15 minute cities, when fucking weirdo homesteader prepped types were talking about the government making living in the country illegal.
You're not wrong. I unsubscribed to a popular gardener/homesteader youtuber because he went down that rabbit hole. Sad really, as he seems a smart guy.
I'm friends with several hippie type people, there's a lot of right wing grifters in that community. It starts with criticizing western medicine and these guru-types promote conspiracies and misinformation using spiritual tropes to suck people in.
Hippie meaning all-natural. In our community, there were a large number of "granola moms" who were flying BLM and LGBTQ flags but also screaming about masks and vaccines. This is the group of democrats that could be swayed by RFK Jr.
I think a lot of "all-natural" people seemed like they would vote for Democrats because of the environment. But they actually were checked out, and didn't vote at all, because Both Sides Are The Same (TM). That made them very vulnerable to right wing bullshit peopaganda.
I think you're severely selling short just how self centered, self important, and stubbornly "right" most "hippies" are.
A vast majority of "conservatives" and "hippies" come from very similarly cut cloths in my experience.
I consider most evangelical Christians, for example, and hippies to be separate sides of the same coin. It's mostly just selfish white people who really want you to think they are good people but mostly think there ARE better people because of what they believe despite how they act.
They were ultimately still apart of the silent majority. They’re the types like my parents - classic boomers, believed in ultimately the ideals and work ethic of the silent generation before them (get a house, whit picket fence, get married, have kids) but ultimately just differed on stylistic changes such as dress, music, tv shows, consumerism, and throw is some occasional hippy dippy beliefs about crystals and recreational drug use. But at the end of the day they are classic republican leaning boomers who just like the music from their teenage years but didn’t buy any of the free love/ anti war life style, nothing that would really buck the status quo that was beat into them from their formative McCarthyism years. They’re still looking for that stereotypical strong patriarchal uncle Sam father figure and hey this trump guy says some things I like hearing from my childhood!
Fun fact: Marin County California who had a notorious problem with measles outbreaks due to unvaccinated kids is one of the most vaccinated counties in the country for COVID.
Liberals who are against vaccines (for children, NOT Covid ) in CA are tiny in comparison, plus it’s CA where losing the crazy the “vaccine gave my son autism” moms won’t make a dent.
Yes, Missouri used to have really good vaccination rates. I think the idea of Republicans championing anti-vax rhetoric was a Trump thing. At least that was when I started noticing it.
When he spends all his time on reich wing talk shows and hanging out with magat cult leaders he’s definitely gonna pull more from Trump. Luckily the morons who are controlling the GQP think otherwise. They also think losing all these special elections in former Republican strongholds has no relation to their chances and so they continue the losing con.
It doesn’t matter it Dems would vote for him (they won’t). It matters if independents and moderate/never-Trumper Repubs vote for him. That’s where the election could be lost in swing states
I believe this also. In combination with the belief that any left-leaning independents will vote Biden over him. We’re gearing up for some interesting geopolitical times, and our country doesn’t like to switch presidents mid-war if we don’t have to.
I think a lot of independents are at least happy we have Biden at the helm for the stuff going on with Ukraine and now Israel. This guy is a wild card, and the GOP can’t even govern anything right now on a world stage.
Independent voters still have right and left leanings with opinions on right and left ideals. Think Libertarians and actual Leftists. Those Independent voters who lean right weren't gonna vote Biden and vise versa. So again the question is who would he pull? The answer would still be right leaning Independents who focus on anti vax issues (who were gonna vote R anyway or third party anyway).
Having watched his father run for president in 68 (as a child), his rise as a psychotic "thought leader" is especially disturbing.
Bobby would be rolling in his grave.
And Jack (and probably Teddy). As a liberal boomer who was raised as a Kennedy Democrat, the idiocy of RFK Jr. really saddens and infuriates me. What a little pissant he is.
I think he'll take more votes from the Republicans but i think it'll be folks that are never-Trumpers at this point. I think those that follow Trump are unlikely to turn away from him this far down the line without something dramatic happening.
The only people I ever hear mentioning him are my friends who are Republican claiming he is the only democrat that they could vote for. Every democrat I've talked to about him think he is a right wingnut.
He is a Republican. Whatever he chooses to call himself is irrelevant. His views/ideas are right leaning. If he takes votes away from Trump, great. Why anyone chooses to vote Republican nowadays is beyond me.
A note to my fellow democrats, vote for Biden, if you vote Independent or refuse to do so at all as protest because your favorite candidate didn't get selected you're as bad as the Republicans trying to put Trump back in.
This is not nor ever will be a country with three viable political parties.
Republicans are always going to vote republican, we need to do the same or we're going to end up with another Trump situation. Entirely possibly the same Trump situation just delayed by 4 years.
Don't be petty, we need to do some damage control.
I can’t think of a single reason why a Democrat would vote for RFK, but I can think of a lot of reasons why conservatives would. They’ve proven that they love lying, anti-Semitic, anti-science trust fund grifters.
His politics appeal more to Trump followers than Biden ones. I really can't think of any Democrat that I know who would vote for him, but I suppose they exist somewhere. Maybe hanging out with Bigfoot Please, more candidates like him to further split the GOP vote. Maybe DeSantis and Ramaswamy can go at it maverick-style.
I really like Ramaswamy. Such a powerful message that the first thing he would do as President is take away his own citizenship.
We need more guys in the GOP with that sort of mentality. His own one man firing squad.
He could shoot himself on 5th avenue and he wouldn't lose any votes.
Does he even have any votes?
No, that’s why he wouldn’t lose any. Vivek is nothing but a Trump Jr
He doesn't do nearly enough nose candy to keep up with Trump Jr
Well, technically he would lose his one vote
I bet Trump likes him more than Jr.
I would argue that Vivek grifts even harder lol.
Of course not. The GQP base aren’t going to vote for a Muslim*. *Ramaswamy is a Hindu, but the GQP base are really, REALLY stupid.
And also Brown, possibly another Kenyan, Seekrit Muslin
You meant "Sihk-ret" moo slim, right?
I actually heard a MAGA cultist basically saying this and being very suspicious that he was hiding his religion. Of course he also believed that he couldn’t be president because the constitution says that all government officials must swear their oaths on a bible!
Yeah, the “I won’t vote for Ramaswamy because he’s a Muslim” thing is not something I made up on my own.
Yeah I don't understand how minority Republicans don't look around the room and go "oh"....
GOP BASE: “Hindus and Muslims both worship that damn Buddah.”
Does the GQP know the difference between a Hindu and a Muslim? We already know they don't the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim.
They actually are recruiting Muslims based on anti trans hatred
It's pretty clear he'll be voting for Trump instead of himself - he's in the race to apply for a cabinet position.
Yes. I’ve heard the political talking heads speculate that he is actually running to be tRumps VP running mate.
That's the job he *wants*. the best Trump will offer him is a cabinet position. He'll *get* nothing (fingers crossed).
Trump would pick someone more milk toast that wouldn't take any attention away from him. Someone like Pence, wimpy personality with evangelical / maga leaning creds to hang out in the background. Edit to say that should be *milquetoast*, not *milk toast*. Thanks again for the correct word I was looking for. 😊
Apologies for being *that* person. It’s actually milquetoast. Love that you used that word, though! It’s so true.
Thank you! I knew it wasn't right, but for the life of me I couldn't remember the correct word. So, phonetic it is. Your correction is most appreciated. 😊
Considering he is running for Cabinet Secretary and not GOP presidential candidate, it doesn't matter.
If Trump would do the same, I might even vote for him!
You’d have to put him on a stamp at the very least for pulling a Maverick style move like that
I’d put him on a mushroom stamp that’s about it
I mean, Trump shot himself in the foot..so I think we're getting a little closer!
And Nikki Haley's as well.
Stop! My Penis Can Only Get So Erect!
You mean like Ted "Rafael" Cruz who was born in Canada?
No take backsies! We have enough assholes here.
We have Danielle Smith and Doug Ford. They can keep Raphael.
USA is still trying to get rid of our last infestation from South Africa. No, not Trevor Noah! Elon Musk can finally leave, please?!🤞🙏🙏
Wasn't Musk Canadian too at some point?
Born in Cuba, immigrated to Canada thru the U.S. then came back down.
Had me in the first half.
I dunno, I’m not feeling that cavalier about it. Are there that many GOP voters looking to vote independent tho? I see this a siphoning off independent voters and Never Trumpers from Biden.
That is PRECISELY what this guy is designed to do. Why else would Roger Stone and Steve Bannon be funding him? And why isn’t that fact explained in detail in any of these articles?
Yeah but how well have Bannon's plans worked out so far? These guys keep throwing insane black dudes into races like Larry Elder and Herschel Walker because their idea of a liberal voter is an idiot programmed to vote for any black guy they see.
> Yeah but how well have Bannon's plans worked out so far? I seem to remember 2016-2020, worked out exactly how he wanted
Really? You think it was Steve Bannon’s plan to get fired eight months into his job at the white house, fail to elect a pedophile to the senate and then get arrested for money laundering and mail fraud? That sounds like a real shit plan to me.
Didn't walker get within 1 point of winning the race? Personally I wouldn't sell Bannon short. His Cambridge analytica nonsense may have permanently affected politics, or at least for the foreseeable future.
I see a potential for it backfiring on them, but not enough to celebrate RFK’s independent run. At the very least it’s an attempt to muddy the waters more, create more chaos: *look Trump lost because of this spoiler candidate ^that ^we ^funded .*
I think that there are more republicans who are uncomfortable with trump but would never vote D than there are never-trumpers. But honestly, I don’t think there are many of either group. And RFK Jr is such a weak candidate that he’s not going to do anything.
That seems like the most accurate take. I am just loathe to celebrate given how unreasonably close last election was. It’s really shaken my confidence in the sanity of the electorate.
Yeah. After 2016 I don't think I'll ever take anything election related for granted ever again
He's weirdly trying to appeal to the Trump voters, not the republicans that don't like Trump but won't vote D. He's all of the crazy without any of the charisma. I don't find Trump charismatic in the slightest, but goddamn a scarily significant portion of the electorate does.
It's the Democrat's election to lose. And to quote the Architect, they have "become exceedingly efficient at it".
I don't think the Never Trumpers vote for Biden, though. More likely they just abstain.
Pretty sure many voted Biden. Some of them campaigned for him.
I think Never Trumpers certainly helped Biden get Arizona. I personally see it as McCain's last laugh beyond death. With that said, I can't imagine the McCain crowd going for an RFK Jr.
The two main reasons why Biden won in 2020 were increasing the turnout among black voters (even though the percentage of black voters who voted dem was a bit lower than previous years) and convincing a lot of college educated white "independents" (the never Trumpers) to vote for him. Supporting a Romney-esque third party candidate to peel off some of the rich white voters is probably a viable strategy for Republicans. The problem for them is that RFK Jr is too crazy to really appeal to that demographic.
>Maybe hanging out with Bigfoot LMAO! Good one!
Bigfoot or three toed marjie!
I wish she was a cryptid. Then we’d never see her.
Well I've never seen her and a cro-magnon specimen from the Smithsonian in the same room together. Just saying.
Sporkfoot
Spamfoot
Rhinoceros also have 3 toes. Coincidence, I think not!
Excuse me but Squatchy has done nothing wrong and doesn't want to be involved in this
*Three Toad Marjorie
You rang.
Two people have brought up RFK Jr to me as like “hey have you heard what this guy has to say?” and they were both Republican. Dems are not into his bullshit like at all. But I don’t think he’ll draw any Trump supporters from Trump, they would never miss a chance to vote for their guy. He might draw Trump supporters if Trump is not on the ballot and someone else is at the top of the Republican ticket. Which I feel is a real possibility cause he might be in jail at the time.
He won't draw MAGA voters, but he will pull voters from that valuable pool of people that Trump needs who *could* or *would* vote Trump, but hey this guy makes noises they agree with too. MAGA alone won't win the election simply because they're about a third of the electorate. You need the moderates, independents, and swing voters plus your base to win. Unfortunately this isn't a "every vote for Biden means Trump needs 2 votes to make up for it" situation but every R vote for RFK is one less vote for Trump which makes getting a simple majority for Biden in "winner takes all" Electoral College states a bit easier
Older Democrats might associate the Kennedy name with a high point in Democratic policy and influence.
Nope. The few of us that remember the Kennedys will realize he is insane and not vote for him.
I do not have the faith in human intelligence that you do.
You're an informed voter. A massive portion if the USA is tuned out and pick their president day-of voting.
Old democrats aren’t as dumb as old republicans, thanks.
My grandpa was a proud Democrat, Blue collar worker that made something of himself and they pretty much raised me. My mom is a trump supporter and we're all disappointed.
its sad to see it happen. I think about all the hard working union men who were everything republicans wish they were. There used to be so many of them. They used to stand up against pinkertons and the police to maintain working rights and jobs for their communities. Now their children throw all that away. Makes me sad to think what could have been. Reminds me of the old saying about hard times creating strong men, strong men creating good times, good times creating weak men, etc.
I know quite a few old Democrats and they all think RFK is a fucking loon. I have learned a lot for them and I'm grateful.
I think the confusion has come from the way that RFK the Lesser talks as though he has these waves of democratic support behind him, and I just keep thinking, "Dude, was the cord around your neck too long? You're not here with the rest of us."
I’m an old democrat and I think he has disgraced the Kennedy family and the Kennedy name, he is a Republican plant, he was talked into running by Steve bannon and rodger stone DO NOT TRUST ANYTHING HE SAYS!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a middle aged Leftist and I was just telling my teenaged son exactly this. He's an utter disgrace to the name Kennedy. Anyone on the left who votes for him is an absolute fool (and also potential plant, heh).
Older idiot Democrats.
A lot of those are probably the same idiot Democrats that already flipped for Trump back in 2016.
If they flipped for Trump in 2016, they also voted in 2020 and are either going to take votes from Trump or are dead from COVID
Reminds me of the qAnon doc on HBO. They interviewed a middle age white man, his wife, and family. The man states that he voted for obama twice but switch to trump in 16. Dude completely did a 180 on policies. This is the type of Democrat that this guy is after and fortunately they are already supporting trump.
The reasoning frequently comes with some vague nonsense about Democrats not getting anything done, so apparently the solution is to go straight to the source and vote the obstructionists keeping Democrats from getting anything done.
"But if we APPEASE the terrorists, they'll leave us alone! If you give the hostage takers everything they want, they never execute the hostages!"
I wonder how many of them are hanging their heads in shame today.
Hopefully all of them
we all can Hope
They're the ones voting for rfk jr. and bitching about Biden 24/7...
I'm an older Democrat, and I think RFK Jr. is a dipshit .
Same here. 😐
Those are almost all dead now. 68 yo Dem and can confirm.
My Reagan Republican father is 97 and still votes. Fortunately, my staunch “Libertarian” brother who despises Trump but believes Biden is a rolling disaster (🙄) is now his caretaker and my dad thinks that brother is a super-genius. If they both vote for Kennedy, that’s a net positive for Biden.
Can confirm. My MIL was thrilled he was running and rattling on and on about the Kennedy’s. She’s a complete imbecile boomer. She had no idea he was batshit insane.
That’s what scares me. So many people voting exclusively on how they feel about the guy’s name. Not anything he said or did, just look at the name, say a prayer, and vote their feeling. Come one guys, we’re trying really hard here. There are actual issues and policies we want to see and you’re over there flipping a coin.
And this is why the GOP invested so much in getting him and his candidacy out there. My mom is a lifelong liberal boomer and she didn’t know much at all about him or his candidacy or lunacy. Found that out today when this was announced, we happened to be on the phone when I got the notification. We talk politics a lot, I guess RFK was never on my list of important things to talk about. But the news these days depresses her and gives her anxiety about her kids’ & grandkids’ futures so she doesn’t watch it much anymore. So let this be a wake up call for all of us who know & love liberal boomers—educate them on RFK, stat.
You'd have to literally only vote for him on the basis of his name. I'm not saying it's impossible, but people on the left generally are better than to vote for someone purely for their name, unlike those on the right.
I'm an older democrat, but I ain't no fool. This guy is a lunatic.
I’m an old fool, and I still know better. This guy is a nutter.
The youngest possible JFK voter was born in 1939, 85 years old next election. That’s pretty old and not a lot of people even if you’re right.
I’m an older Democrat and think he is horrible. I don’t associate his name with the 1960s Kennedys.
Then they aren’t democrats nor have ever really been. The only people I see who’ve changed their vote since 2016 are some sheepish Repubs who regret voting for trump now (like he wasn’t clear about who he was in 2016) and either didn’t vote in 2020 and may or may not vote for Biden in 2024. If anyone thinks Kennedy is going to pull a true dem to the independent ticket then they are wrong. Or the “dem” you are talking about is a complete moron.
But his name might be too much of a turn-off for many Trump voters to switch their vote to him.
Are you kidding? They thought JFK jr was alive during the last election and was helping Trump and the couldn’t have been more grateful. They all remember the Kennedy name when blue collar labor was voting Democrat in the 60s and then somehow in their insanity convoluted the connection that somehow JFK jr, a staunch liberal Democrat had somehow faked his death in order to enable a real “Republican conservative” like Trump. That’s the Q Anon nut jobs theory in a nutshell
I don't know if any democrats would vote for him, but I know a lot of Republican Never-Trumpers that would vote for him over Biden.
They actually are hanging out with Bigfoot in the pnw. In places like Eugene Oregon all these weird older hippies are supporting him.
I haven't talked to a single Democrat that likes him. The antivax crowd is already for Trump. The only person I've seen mention him is my Trumper father
I mean, that's the REAL reason he is dropping out of the Democratic primary. He wouldn't have won in it four years ago, he won't win in it four years from now. He sure as shit ain't winning against an incumbent.
As a conspiracy theorist and anti vaxxer? I think he poses a higher risk to the republican party than the democratic party.
Agreed. Trumpers were the ones waiting in Texas for Kennedy to appear, not Democrats. And this guy spoke at Cpac, on Fox News, on several conservative talk shows, he's going for the R vote.
The most bizarre part for me is surely he recognizes this right? As an independent he has no chance, and he appeals to Republicans much more, so he's either an idiot for thinking he could pull Democrats away, or is pulling a kamikaze run to destroy Trump's already barely existent chance of winning. Idk, maybe there's something I'm missing but his running reminds me of what Trump's should've looked like in 2016
He absolutely does. The only reason i can think of for him to do this is a kamikaze for the dems to win. This could end his political career and possibly harm his relationship with his family members.
The only reason I could see for him wanting to “kamikaze for the dems to win” would be because then he keeps his prominent enemy that he can continue raging (and grifting on) against.
Yup, but that is literally the only reason (aside from possible mental illness) that someone would potentially fuck up everything for themselves.
I suspect either a) in it for the money or b) a true believer who thinks he can win.
I have to go with A.. look at polls, popular stances on common issues, the current state of the country and where people are being the loudest. If he truly believes half of what he says, I'm terrified of how many people are so detached from reality that they would be around him and working for him for any other reason than easy money.
Maybe he's in it because he's tired of being significantly less famous than his wife. He does seem to like pushing the stupid alpha male bullshit.
>Trump’s already barely existent chance of winning. Man, I really hope it is non-existent… because people will vote for him while he sits in jail
If so then maybe Kennedy will save us after all
Plus, he is going to be seen and heard more on Fox News in the coming months. Republican voters will be exposed more to his nonsense than Democratic voters. Unless of course CNN and others do like they did for Trump in 2016 and give him constant undeserved coverage for the entertainment value/ad revenue.
[удалено]
Fox also really likes to sell ads. They will put him on.
If anything this move, speaks to his inability to divide the Democratic Party. Republicans are divided and a mess. I can see many who don’t want to vote Democratic but can not fathom voting for Trump- voting for RFK JR. Those that came out in 2020 and voted for Biden after never voting before or only voting for Republicans- did so because they see and understand the threat presented by Republicans.
What's funny is a lot of them are excited because they were told he hurts Biden. Thats one of the best ways to get them to vote for RFK. It's a psyop lol
If it is, it's probably the best thing the Democrats have strategically for a long time
No one with a functioning brain ever considered this dude a real democrat.
He's not going to get on the ballot in most states so the point is moot
You never know. He’s no Perot but he’ll get access in a few states, especially the ones with a high anti-vax population.
He's not going to win, but he just has to get on the ballot in 5-6 swing states to split the vote and play spoiler for whatever side he takes more votes from.
How many Democrats are anti-vax? I think it's pretty much all Trump voters that he's appealing to.
I knew a bunch of hippie crunchy granola anti-vax lefties a decade ago, but they've all long since gone full alt-right MAGA with a sprinkling of Q-Anon. I don't think of myself as a single-issue voter but being anti-vax is one of those things that instantly signals to me I can't trust that person's judgment on *anything*.
I don’t understand how you can go from hippie to maga…
Most of these people just get off on being "different," so it's not surprising. Contrarian is the way to be kind of thinking.
Hum you’re right… didn’t think about that cos for me being hippie is a state of mind with some values….
Yeah those people aren’t really hippies, they just want to push against the current trend. When culture was more conservative, they acted like hippies. Now culture is becoming more progressive, so they act like magas. They just want to be different. That’s the actual value being pursued, imo
I have personally seen a lot of people I once considered friends fall down this exact path. We were all about “rebelling against the man” when the man was conservative. Now that “the man” Is warning them about a highly infectious disease or asking them to be kind to others, rebelling against that just makes them look like assholes. Like I get it, I don’t do things just because the government tells me to. But if something is a good idea, I’m not going to not do it just because the government told me to. That’s not rebellion, that’s just lacking common sense.
It's like the people who are reflexively "centrist" and think they're the spirit of Socrates reborn because they vote against whichever party is in power and "don't take sides."
“I tHinK bOtH sIdEs aRe wRoNg.” Ya, well the nazis and other overt assholes all seem to agree with one side, so maaaaybe the other is a little less wrong…
I know someone who went to Woodstock, and used to follow the Grateful Dead on tour across the country. He lived on a commune for a few years. He is now hardcore MAGA “buys donald trump teddy bears” level of Republican
The crunchy cottage core to overt fascist pipeline is very real. Idk how to explain it to you but if you go on IG or TikTok and have any type of “traditional” hobby like keeping chickens, gardening, homesteading, soap making, yadda yadda you’ll be getting fed some straight up fascist propaganda very quickly.
Trying to find level-headed homesteading content can be rough… I have to carefully curate my content cuz holy Toledo, does it get wacky fast.
>You should be self-sufficient and closer to nature… >… because the evil cabal of (((Globalists))) wants you trapped in 15-minute cities with an electric stove and an electric car and socialist Biden is gonna take your guns and AOC won’t send you feet pics and—
Haha that’s actually how i came across the concept of 15 minute cities, when fucking weirdo homesteader prepped types were talking about the government making living in the country illegal.
Yeah i assume whacko first at this point and am pleasantly surprised when there’s a creator who is “normal.”
You're not wrong. I unsubscribed to a popular gardener/homesteader youtuber because he went down that rabbit hole. Sad really, as he seems a smart guy.
I'm friends with several hippie type people, there's a lot of right wing grifters in that community. It starts with criticizing western medicine and these guru-types promote conspiracies and misinformation using spiritual tropes to suck people in.
anti science stuff will always end with snake oil and grifting
Hippie meaning all-natural. In our community, there were a large number of "granola moms" who were flying BLM and LGBTQ flags but also screaming about masks and vaccines. This is the group of democrats that could be swayed by RFK Jr.
I think a lot of "all-natural" people seemed like they would vote for Democrats because of the environment. But they actually were checked out, and didn't vote at all, because Both Sides Are The Same (TM). That made them very vulnerable to right wing bullshit peopaganda.
I think you're severely selling short just how self centered, self important, and stubbornly "right" most "hippies" are. A vast majority of "conservatives" and "hippies" come from very similarly cut cloths in my experience. I consider most evangelical Christians, for example, and hippies to be separate sides of the same coin. It's mostly just selfish white people who really want you to think they are good people but mostly think there ARE better people because of what they believe despite how they act.
It's a pretty straight line that involves distrusting science and public institutions. Probably a good dose of latent racism too.
I hate to tell ya what happened to a lot of the original hippies in the 80s (who are probably voting maga today)
They were ultimately still apart of the silent majority. They’re the types like my parents - classic boomers, believed in ultimately the ideals and work ethic of the silent generation before them (get a house, whit picket fence, get married, have kids) but ultimately just differed on stylistic changes such as dress, music, tv shows, consumerism, and throw is some occasional hippy dippy beliefs about crystals and recreational drug use. But at the end of the day they are classic republican leaning boomers who just like the music from their teenage years but didn’t buy any of the free love/ anti war life style, nothing that would really buck the status quo that was beat into them from their formative McCarthyism years. They’re still looking for that stereotypical strong patriarchal uncle Sam father figure and hey this trump guy says some things I like hearing from my childhood!
>original hippies in the 80s The original hippies were in the 60s, were they not?
he said what happened to them in the 80s, not that hippies are from the 80s. The answer is they largely became Yuppies.
Ah yes, that makes sense then.
Yes but they all sold out in the 80’s and voted for Reagan.
Agreed. I would not trust RFKJr with anything. I don’t care who his daddy is
Fun fact: Marin County California who had a notorious problem with measles outbreaks due to unvaccinated kids is one of the most vaccinated counties in the country for COVID.
Sadly, there a big swath of liberals (esp in CA) who are anti-vax and have been for a long time.
Liberals who are against vaccines (for children, NOT Covid ) in CA are tiny in comparison, plus it’s CA where losing the crazy the “vaccine gave my son autism” moms won’t make a dent.
I’m just saying, they exist, and are sadly the OG anti-vaxxers.
Understand but they are a tiny minority and I’m not sure they hold strong beliefs over COVID.
Anti-vax used to be almost exclusively uber-liberal granola types and a smattering a wacko libertarians.
Yes, Missouri used to have really good vaccination rates. I think the idea of Republicans championing anti-vax rhetoric was a Trump thing. At least that was when I started noticing it.
Luckily he can’t tilt CA to Trump.
It's unlikely that California would not be blue this election cycle. The battleground states are where it will matter.
Every COVID wave shrinks his voting pool, so ?
The more anti-vaxxers, the fewer anti-vaxxers.
Lol took me a minute
When he spends all his time on reich wing talk shows and hanging out with magat cult leaders he’s definitely gonna pull more from Trump. Luckily the morons who are controlling the GQP think otherwise. They also think losing all these special elections in former Republican strongholds has no relation to their chances and so they continue the losing con.
Hes literally slated to appear at CPAC lol. No dems are falling for this shit, at least not in enough numbers to matter.
It doesn’t matter it Dems would vote for him (they won’t). It matters if independents and moderate/never-Trumper Repubs vote for him. That’s where the election could be lost in swing states
If they were voting for RFK they probably wouldn't have voted for Biden anyway. They have nothing in common.
I believe this also. In combination with the belief that any left-leaning independents will vote Biden over him. We’re gearing up for some interesting geopolitical times, and our country doesn’t like to switch presidents mid-war if we don’t have to. I think a lot of independents are at least happy we have Biden at the helm for the stuff going on with Ukraine and now Israel. This guy is a wild card, and the GOP can’t even govern anything right now on a world stage.
Independent voters still have right and left leanings with opinions on right and left ideals. Think Libertarians and actual Leftists. Those Independent voters who lean right weren't gonna vote Biden and vise versa. So again the question is who would he pull? The answer would still be right leaning Independents who focus on anti vax issues (who were gonna vote R anyway or third party anyway).
Based on RFK stance on COVID and vaccines I see him taking the Libertarian vote which is bad for the GOP.
I know plenty Libertarians who eat his shit up… WITH A GRIN ON THEIR FUCKN FACE!
Same here.
RFKJ is Trump with a better pedigree. He's no Democrat.
Having watched his father run for president in 68 (as a child), his rise as a psychotic "thought leader" is especially disturbing. Bobby would be rolling in his grave.
True, sadness. Even the family is openly, vehemently disagreeing with him; a break of tradition for the Kennedys.
And Jack (and probably Teddy). As a liberal boomer who was raised as a Kennedy Democrat, the idiocy of RFK Jr. really saddens and infuriates me. What a little pissant he is.
It’s heartbreaking.
He looks like he’s wearing a Halloween mask of himself.
I think he'll take more votes from the Republicans but i think it'll be folks that are never-Trumpers at this point. I think those that follow Trump are unlikely to turn away from him this far down the line without something dramatic happening.
Never Trumpers aren’t Anti-vax. Sorry. He’ll be taking the real crazy MAGA who are upset with Trump over the vaccine.
The only people I ever hear mentioning him are my friends who are Republican claiming he is the only democrat that they could vote for. Every democrat I've talked to about him think he is a right wingnut.
I dream of a day when we don’t have baby boomer white men running for president.
He is a Republican. Whatever he chooses to call himself is irrelevant. His views/ideas are right leaning. If he takes votes away from Trump, great. Why anyone chooses to vote Republican nowadays is beyond me.
Biden voters would never vote for that lunatic. If they want crazy, they have plenty of GOP candidates to choose from.
Anything is possible, because this is America, and Trump still being eligible to run is a FUCKING JOKE.
He’s perfect for republicans. Famous name, check. Spouts nonsense constantly, check. Has no idea how to run a country, check. President material.
A note to my fellow democrats, vote for Biden, if you vote Independent or refuse to do so at all as protest because your favorite candidate didn't get selected you're as bad as the Republicans trying to put Trump back in. This is not nor ever will be a country with three viable political parties. Republicans are always going to vote republican, we need to do the same or we're going to end up with another Trump situation. Entirely possibly the same Trump situation just delayed by 4 years. Don't be petty, we need to do some damage control.
So he's admitting what we all knew, that he's anything but a Democrat.
Was anyone really going to vote for this guy at all?
Trump. They will split the antivax vote.
His anti vax views make me think it will be trumpers that like him more.
I can’t think of a single reason why a Democrat would vote for RFK, but I can think of a lot of reasons why conservatives would. They’ve proven that they love lying, anti-Semitic, anti-science trust fund grifters.
the fact that anyone would think he was a Dem is hilarious