Froot loopy Anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenging Biden for presidency

[shemp]

Froot loopy Anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenging Biden for presidency in 2024

Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and scion of one of the country's most famous political families, is running for president.

Kennedy filed a statement of candidacy Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.

The 69-year-old's campaign to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination is a long shot. Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also running in the Democratic race.

Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of his slain brother Robert F. Kennedy, was once a bestselling author and environmental lawyer who worked on issues such as clean water.

But more than 15 years ago, he became fixated on a belief that vaccines are not safe. He emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement, and his work has been described by public health experts and even members of his own family as misleading and dangerous.

I'm sure Joe is quaking in his shoes.

 

[Orphia Nay]

Oh, no, the cookers will have to choose between a Kennedy and Trump. Their tiny brains may finally explode.

 

[Stacyhs]

I don't think so, Robert.

 

[Norman Alexander]

If even his family won't vote for him, he's probably not going to succeed.

 

[angrysoba]

Oh, no, the cookers will have to choose between a Kennedy and Trump. Their tiny brains may finally explode.

Well, he is running in the Democratic primaries so any showdown between RFK Jr and Trump would assume he defeats Biden and would be a terrifying match-up.

Some have said his campaign slogan should be Make Measles Great Again given he is old school anti-vax.

In fact the anti-vaxxers will more likely have a headache choosing between RFk and Marianne Williamson. Hope they have a bottle of homeopathic headache tablets handy to do absolutely nothing for them.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Williamson will be absolutely bulling, she's now lost all her voters not named M Williamson.

 

[Disbelief]

If even his family won't vote for him, he's probably not going to succeed.

That didn't hurt Gosar in AZ.

 

[Donal]

Gosar's uncle was never a deciding factor in a Democratic primary.

 

[Brainster]

If it wasn't for his (father's and uncle's) name this wouldn't even be a story. He would be a much better fit for the Greens.

 

[newyorkguy]

Sorry, but when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is mentioned I always think of the classic 'Nathan Thurm' interview he did with comedian Martin Short. It was classic!



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[acbytesla]

There was a time I liked RFK Jr. Well at least his politics at that time.

But even without his crazy stance on vaccinations, he makes a terrible candidate. The only thing he has going for him is his name. He's not good looking like his father and uncle. And he has one of the worst speaking voices I have ever heard. It is high pitched, shrill and scratchy.

Sorry Bobby.

 

[dudalb]

This will be good for some laughs.
Even his own family has pretty much denounced him.

 

[Donal]

There was a time I liked RFK Jr. Well at least his politics at that time.

But even without his crazy stance on vaccinations, he makes a terrible candidate. The only thing he has going for him is his name. He's not good looking like his father and uncle. And he has one of the worst speaking voices I have ever heard. It is high pitched, shrill and scratchy.

Sorry Bobby.

That boy ain't right

 

[Norman Alexander]

That didn't hurt Gosar in AZ.

Well, that's AZ for you.

 

[JoeMorgue]

I also think America just reacts badly to dynasties. People like George W. Bush and Bobby Kennedy are the exception, not the rule.

 

[Venom]

LMAO what

 

[Stacyhs]

There was a time I liked RFK Jr. Well at least his politics at that time.

But even without his crazy stance on vaccinations, he makes a terrible candidate. The only thing he has going for him is his name. He's not good looking like his father and uncle. And he has one of the worst speaking voices I have ever heard. It is high pitched, shrill and scratchy.

Sorry Bobby.

There's a reason for that: "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suffers from a voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, also referred to as laryngeal dystonia. It is a disorder where a person's voice muscles contract involuntary, leading to a distorted voice."

 

[Donal]

I also think America just reacts badly to dynasties. People like George W. Bush and Bobby Kennedy are the exception, not the rule.

I mean, we like to *say* that, but family connections do seem really helpful in politics. Especially in regional politics.

 

[Stacyhs]

I mean, we like to *say* that, but family connections do seem really helpful in politics. Especially in regional politics.

The Daley family in Chicago; 43 years as mayors. I think Americans tend to like political dynasties rather than dislike them. If not for Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy would likely have been elected POTUS.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

This is good news. Now nobody can claim that Democrats tried to block any challengers to Biden like it's suggested they did with Hillary.

People ding Kennedy for being anti-vax. But that just proves he's further to the left than they are. Now 'progressives' have to choose between a moderate and a fruit loop. Which one will they choose?

 

[dudalb]

I also think America just reacts badly to dynasties. People like George W. Bush and Bobby Kennedy are the exception, not the rule.

And the Kennedy family has pretty much turned it's back on Bobby jr anyway.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

This is good news. Now nobody can claim that Democrats tried to block any challengers to Biden like it's suggested they did with Hillary.

People ding Kennedy for being anti-vax. But that just proves he's further to the left than they are. Now 'progressives' have to choose between a moderate and a fruit loop. Which one will they choose?

That's...not how it works. Anti-Vax doesn't necessarily mean left wing, and left wing certainly doesn't mean anti-vax. I'm extremely left wing and progressive, and I hate anti-vax people.

 

[dudalb]

That's...not how it works. Anti-Vax doesn't necessarily mean left wing, and left wing certainly doesn't mean anti-vax. I'm extremely left wing and progressive, and I hate anti-vax people.

Anti Vax bullcrap knows no political boundaries. It has supporters on both the wacko left and the wacko right.

 

[dudalb]

Bobby jr will provide good material for the late night comics..and that will be all the impact his run will have.

 

[Stacyhs]

This is good news. Now nobody can claim that Democrats tried to block any challengers to Biden like it's suggested they did with Hillary.

People ding Kennedy for being anti-vax. But that just proves he's further to the left than they are. Now 'progressives' have to choose between a moderate and a fruit loop. Which one will they choose?

Nope, nope, and nope.

 

[acbytesla]

There's a reason for that: "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suffers from a voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, also referred to as laryngeal dystonia. It is a disorder where a person's voice muscles contract involuntary, leading to a distorted voice."

Thanks for the info. He use to host a radio show on Air America. But if he wasn’t a Kennedy, there is no way he is picked to host a radio show.

 

[acbytesla]

That's...not how it works. Anti-Vax doesn't necessarily mean left wing, and left wing certainly doesn't mean anti-vax. I'm extremely left wing and progressive, and I hate anti-vax people.

I don’t hate RFK Jr. Still, I think his position on vaccines is looney.

I use to think only super nutty liberals took the anti-vax stance. It was almost never a conservative. But COVID certainly put an end to that. The Republican party took a deep dive into that crazy pool when it came to vaccinations.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

This is good news. Now nobody can claim that Democrats tried to block any challengers to Biden like it's suggested they did with Hillary.

People ding Kennedy for being anti-vax. But that just proves he's further to the left than they are. Now 'progressives' have to choose between a moderate and a fruit loop. Which one will they choose?

Anti vaccination tropes are far more right wing that they are left wing.

 

[kookbreaker]

I don’t hate RFK Jr. Still, I think his position on vaccines is looney.

I use to think only super nutty liberals took the anti-vax stance. It was almost never a conservative. But COVID certainly put an end to that. The Republican party took a deep dive into that crazy pool when it came to vaccinations.

The right wing started being anti-vaxx when they realized that schools had been requiring them for attendance for decades. The libertarians started inventing excuses to hate on vaccines besides the school mandates and the rest of the conservatives picked it up slowly, but then put the crazy shoes completely on during COVID.

 

[Trebuchet]

There's a reason for that: "Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suffers from a voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia, also referred to as laryngeal dystonia. It is a disorder where a person's voice muscles contract involuntary, leading to a distorted voice."

If I recall correctly, Scott Adams, also a loon, suffers from that as well. Or at least something similar.

 

[autumn1971]

The right wing started being anti-vaxx when they realized that schools had been requiring them for attendance for decades. The libertarians started inventing excuses to hate on vaccines besides the school mandates and the rest of the conservatives picked it up slowly, but then put the crazy shoes completely on during COVID.

Yeah, went from New Age to loon-age

 

[Doubt]

Alternate headlines:

Man makes determined effort to destroy what is left of his family reputation.

Delusional fool finds new, more impressive way to double down on his incredibly wrong perspective on the world.

Man attempts to duplicate his uncle's terrible judgment on political campaign planning.

 

[dudalb]

If even his family won't vote for him, he's probably not going to succeed.

Corrected your mistake.
His candidancy is a joke in the US.

 

[acbytesla]

The right wing started being anti-vaxx when they realized that schools had been requiring them for attendance for decades. The libertarians started inventing excuses to hate on vaccines besides the school mandates and the rest of the conservatives picked it up slowly, but then put the crazy shoes completely on during COVID.

I can show you right wing Republicans for decades supporting vaccinations and having no tolerance for anti-vaxxers.

 

[Norman Alexander]

I can show you right wing Republicans for decades supporting vaccinations and having no tolerance for anti-vaxxers.

Until COVID and Trump.

 

[Stacyhs]

Until COVID and Trump.

But it's ONLY Covid vaccines that are dangerous!

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Sorry, but when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is mentioned I always think of the classic 'Nathan Thurm' interview he did with comedian Martin Short. It was classic!



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[Skeptic Ginger]

Anti vaccination tropes are far more right wing that they are left wing.

They are both for different reasons—all BS reasons.

The right wing started being anti-vaxx when they realized that schools had been requiring them for attendance for decades. The libertarians started inventing excuses to hate on vaccines besides the school mandates and the rest of the conservatives picked it up slowly, but then put the crazy shoes completely on during COVID.

I'd like to see a citation for this. In my experience with a lot of anti-vaxxers (been my job for decades to give vaccinations) both left and right anti-vaxxers fall into the extreme wings of each respective party. Or they fall out of the parties altogether. I think RFK is more Green Party than Democratic Party. And Libertarians are at least more likely to be against vaccine mandates of any kind—public health and pandemics be damned.

I can show you right wing Republicans for decades supporting vaccinations and having no tolerance for anti-vaxxers.

And I can show you the same for left wing Democrats. Progressives are pretty much the party of science*. I can see why you might have missed that.


*Except Progressive's still haven't discovered the science of marketing.

 

[Major Major]

How can you object to him?

Kennedy, in turn, argues that his critics can’t point to a single erroneous statement he’s made.

“Everything we post is vetted, it is sourced and cited to government databases or peer-reviewed publications,” he said after he was suspended from Instagram.

“When they use the term ‘vaccine misinformation,’ they are using it as a euphemism for any statement that departs from official government policies and pharmaceutical industry profit-making,” RFK Jr. added. “It has nothing to do with whether it’s true or false, it only has to do with what the political implications are.”

 

[Stacyhs]

How can you object to him?

Quote:
Kennedy, in turn, argues that his critics can’t point to a single erroneous statement he’s made.

“Everything we post is vetted, it is sourced and cited to government databases or peer-reviewed publications,” he said after he was suspended from Instagram.

“When they use the term ‘vaccine misinformation,’ they are using it as a euphemism for any statement that departs from official government policies and pharmaceutical industry profit-making,” RFK Jr. added. “It has nothing to do with whether it’s true or false, it only has to do with what the political implications are.”

We can object because he is not telling the truth above. From FactCheck.Org:

Several vaccine falsehoods and misrepresentations have been strung together in a video aimed at discouraging Black people from getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

The hourlong video, called “Medical Racism: The New Apartheid,” is hosted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccination organization, Children’s Health Defense. It includes mostly rehashed claims about vaccine safety framed to exploit distrust of the medical establishment in Black communities.

The video, which was made available on March 11, doesn’t offer any evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are harmful. Instead, it relies on innuendo — citing historical examples of ethical failures in medicine, misrepresenting various scientific studies, and suggesting that the medical establishment can’t be trusted.

More from Politifact:

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
stated on December 6, 2021 in a meeting with Louisiana lawmakers:
The COVID-19 vaccine is the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines are the most deadly, citing deaths reported in the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System, an open database where anyone can report anything.

Pointing to a pie graph that compiled deaths reported in the federal government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System [VAERS] over the last 30 years, Kennedy claimed that there are "more people who have died in eight months from this vaccine than from 72 vaccines over the last 30 years."

But there are several errors with Kennedy’s claim. We address them here, one by one.

VAERS is designed so that anyone — parents, patients and health care professionals — can freely report any health effects that occur after a vaccination, according to the CDC, whether or not those effects are believed to be caused by a vaccine.

RFK Jr. is himself misrepresenting his sources as being 'vetted'.