The Democratic scion is using his bid for the party’s presidential nomination to inject conspiratorial ideology into the mainstream — to the delight of conservatives
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t exactly been towing the Democratic Party line since announcing his presidential run in April. The scion has been vowing to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border, siding with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, and pushing a host of outlandish conspiracy theories — most notably about Covid-19, including a claim this weekend that it was ethnically targeted while noting infections were lowest among Jewish and Chinese people.
It should come as no surprise, then, that RKF is raking in cash from GOP donors. Popular Information published a fundraising breakdown on Monday, noting that of the 96 individuals who donated the maximum $6,600 to RFK’s campaign last quarter, 37 had only previously donated to Republicans running for federal office. Only 19 had consistently donated to Democratic candidates.
Kennedy also received the maximum from Purple Good Government PAC, which is controlled by tech investor David Sacks. Sacks has been a vocal supporter of Ron DeSantis’ bid to win the Republican nomination. He’s also pals with Elon Musk, participating in both a glitch-ridden Twitter Spaces conversation between DeSantis and Musk, and another between Musk and RFK during which RFK praised Musk breathlessly before blaming school shootings on anti-depressants.
Popular Information also notes that in 2021 RFK’s anti-vax non-profit, Children’s Health Defense, tried to donate $50,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association, which ultimately returned the money. Media Matters reported in June that Children’s Health Defense had sliding into the replies of white supremacists on the far-right social network Gab, which the Anti-Defamation League has described as a “haven for extremists, conspiracy theorists and misinformation.”
Kennedy certainly holds some traditionally Democratic positions — including an opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down race-based affirmative action in college admission — but he’s essentially been functioning as a right-wing operative in the Democratic primary. He even accepted an invitation from far-right Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to testify later this week in front of the Weaponization of the Federal Government Committee, which has served as a vessel for Republicans to legitimate conspiracy theories about President Biden and the “deep state.”
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RFK’s campaign has been catnip to the conspiracy wing of the GOP, but he’s also staked out some thoroughly MAGA policy positions. He visited the U.S.-Mexico border in June, railing against the state of the border and saying he’s “[with Trump more than Biden] on this particular issue.” Trump beefed up an inhumane family separation policy, tried and failed to build a wall across the border, and has continued to demonize migrants seeking asylum in the United States. RFK has echoed the rhetoric of Trump and his allies when speaking on the issue. “I will make the border impervious,” he promised in May.
Republicans like what they’re hearing.
