Democrats are no longer trying to ignore Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and have taken to calling him out in public after a week of controversies.
National party leaders for the first time acknowledged Kennedy’s disruptive presidential bid with sharp criticism, and lawmakers met his claims of censorship head-on during his testimony on Capitol Hill.
It’s a notable change from their previous approach, in which Democratic leaders and party officials hoped Kennedy would simply fade away on his own. It also serves a purpose for President Biden, who has so far been cautious about addressing his primary rival directly.
“On his own, he was doing a really good job of showing everyone his initials stood for Real F—ing [K]razy, so made sense to let him be,” said Eddie Vale, a strategist who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns.
“This week was different and made sense for folks to engage, because of the combination of outright antisemitism and being a witness for Republicans’ nonsense hearing,” Vale said.
Kennedy this week drew backlash for asserting without evidence that COVID-19 was “ethnically targeted” — a claim infectious disease and ethics experts refuted. Kennedy was caught on video by a reporter saying Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews were not targeted as much as other races, including Black and white people.
“I’ve never even believed that he was a legitimate candidate,” said Arthur Caplan, a biomedical expert who’s spoken out about the various public relations storms that have dominated Kennedy’s campaign.
“COVID just doesn’t lend itself to being that kind of weapon,” added Caplan, who has written extensively about bioweapons and viruses. “I knew he was basically talking out of his rear end.”
But while Kennedy has frequently drawn negative attention for his views on vaccines, his remarks this week seemed to be even more offensive to many. A wave of White House officials and congressional Democrats rushed to criticize Kennedy, accusing him of spreading misinformation and making antisemitic and racist comments.
In a rare showing of condemnation toward a rival from the same side of the aisle, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took to the podium to portray Kennedy’s comments as factually inaccurate and an “attack” on people.
“If you think about the racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories that come out of saying those types of things, it is an attack on our fellow citizens, our fellow Americans,” Jean-Pierre said Monday.
“It is important that we essentially speak out when we hear those claims made more broadly,” she added.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called the candidate’s COVID-19 comments “reprehensible” and said they were disqualifying.
“Last week, RFK Jr. made reprehensible anti-semitic and anti-Asian comments aimed at perpetuating harmful and debunked racist tropes,” DelBene said in a statement.
“Such dangerous racism and hate have no place in America, demonstrate him to be unfit for public office, and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” she added.
Adding fuel to the fire for Democrats, Kennedy testified Thursday before a House Judiciary select subcommittee examining the “weaponization” of the federal government, using the event to argue he was being censored despite receiving widespread coverage from major news outlets. Although House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) defended him, Democrats — led by Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) — made their disapproval of him clear.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also waded into the intraparty conflict, questioning why the GOP would grant Kennedy a forum in Congress.
“Why would you give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a congressional platform to spew his hatred? Here’s the answer: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a living, breathing false-flag operation,” the New York congressman said.
The growing chorus of criticism poses a challenge for Kennedy, who always faced an uphill climb to defeat Biden. But the events of the past week could turn off even those voters who had been more open to his campaign.
Adding to the feeling of many Democrats that Kennedy is playing into the hands of the GOP, former President Trump recently praised the insurgent candidate as “a very smart person,” saying he “hit a little bit of a nerve.” Kennedy had expressed during a town hall hosted by NewsNation — owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill — that he was “proud” Trump liked him.
“His whole campaign is being run by right-wing political operatives who have one objective: try to take down President Joe Biden,” Jeffries argued this week.
That sentiment is shared by many others in the party. The Hill reported earlier this week that two pro-Israel House Democrats said he should not be allowed to serve in the Oval Office if elected following his COVID-19 remarks.
Still, Biden has been careful not to pile on, and some Democrats argue it’s better to disregard him again. Reached for comment, spokespeople from the Biden campaign and the White House also declined to comment on the record beyond what Jean-Pierre said at the podium this week.
As long as he teeters around the same polling numbers, Democrats say they should continue paying him no mind.
“I think it makes most sense to go back to ignoring him,” Vale said. “Let him just hang out with Steve Bannon and do weird push-ups in jeans.”