RFK Jr. announces divorce from the Democratic Party, launches indy 2024 run

[timothyu]

Children demanding attention. BTW the anti-thing is about RNA vaxes

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Trump Lays Into RFK Jr. by Claiming ‘He’s Not Really an Anti-Vaxxer’​

“RFK Jr. is a Democrat plant,” Trump said on Thursday in a video posted on Truth Social.

“So, Republicans, get it out of your mind that you’re going to vote for this guy because he’s conservative,” the former president said. “He’s not. And by the way, he said the other night that vaccines are fine. He said it on a show, a television show, that vaccines are fine. He’s all for them. And that’s what he said. And for those of you that want to vote because you think he’s an anti-vaxxer, he’s not really an anti-vaxxer.”

What an odd web this has turned into lol.

It would seem as if both major US parties have some concerns about RFK Jr taking some of their votes away. I've noticed that both conservative and liberal media outlets have been putting a disproportionate amount of of focus on him over this past month (for a guy they both dismissed a year ago and said "nah, it's fine, he'll take more votes from the other side").

Trumps doing this silly self-contradicting stuff (where he used to brag about "inventing the covid vaccines" -- as if he was in the lab working on them himself), and now trying to use "not anti-vaxxer enough" as pejorative...weird flex bro.

CNN is running pieces asking Sanjay Gupta about a parasitic infection RFK had 15 years ago and what potential cognitive impairment it can cause. (irony alert)


"He doesn't hold enough real conservative values, he's a democrat plant" - says the team that's currently backing a guy who's on trial for paying hush money to an adult film star, ran casinos into ground, and has cheated on multiple wives.

"That parasitic infection could've messed up his brain, we're concerned he's not playing with a full deck" -says that the team that's backing a guy who says "hermagerlobergroger...malarkey!" and then has to be pointed in the direction he's supposed to walk in to exit the stage.

I realize that people don't like RFK for his vaccine stances (I don't like his vaccine stances either) and covid turned that into a "red line issue" for some people...

But are we at a point where we can at least acknowledge the fact that the only reason why either party is worried about him is because they've both hitched their wagons to two particularly poor candidates?

Do you think anyone in 2012 would be talking about RFK Jr. at all when the two main choices were Obama and Romney? (two respectable candidates)

Say what you want about Romney, you didn't have to worry about an affair and payoffs to an adult film star
Say what you want about Obama, but he could string a sentence together and not look like a deer in the headlights

 

[timothyu]

Trumps doing this silly self-contradicting stuff (where he used to brag about "inventing the covid vaccines" -- as if he was in the lab working on them himself)

Well at least he didn't invent the interweb

 

[timothyu]

Now that everyone has found fault.. what are the good points of the major three?

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Now that everyone has found fault.. what are the good points of the major three?

Good compared to what? lol

In terms of overall policy (weighing out the points of agreement and disagreement and making a pros/cons list), I actually do like RFK the most out of the three if there was a gun to my head and I had to pick one.

I think Biden is better on the environment and certain aspects of healthcare
I prefer Trump on topics of national security and certain economic aspects

 

[NxNW]

Well at least he didn't invent the interweb

Gore never claimed to have done so, either. Though he did more than just about any elected official to bring it about.

 

[NxNW]

I prefer Trump on topics of national security and certain economic aspects

Dismantling NATO and causing a recession followed by inflation aren't big selling points.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Dismantling NATO and causing a recession followed by inflation aren't big selling points.

https://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/whats-trumps-position-on-nato/

Donald Trump says he won’t quit NATO — if Europe pays its way

The likely Republican candidate told Nigel Farage he is committed to the military alliance so long as Europe coughs up.

www.politico.eu

I think the "dismantling NATO" thing was taken out of context

I'm not aware of him actually saying that. I did hear him say he would consider pulling the US out of the alliance if other countries didn't start stepping up


Which inflation are you referring to? If you're referring to the post-covid inflation, that seemed to be something that much of the world grappled with (as just about developed nation printed more money and borrowed more money to ride out the storm until things could be reopened)

Also per FactCheck.org...
As president, Trump saw months of continuous U.S. monthly job gains end in February 2019. In 2020, job growth collapsed entirely when COVID-19 went from being a localized problem in Wuhan, China, to a global pandemic.

Employment — A record eight years and four months of monthly job gains — dating to October 2010 — ended February 2019, roughly a year before the pandemic. The U.S. lost 50,000 jobs that month. The U.S. would go on to add 2 million jobs in the remaining months of 2019.

And then the novel coronavirus struck. In two months, March and April 2020, the U.S. economy lost a staggering 22.4 million jobs.


So, I get it, you don't like Trump...nor do I. I would assume it's a pretty solid bet that neither voted for him before, and won't be voting for him this year.

But we can't simply make stuff up or ignore the contextual aspects of things he said, or the pandemic and how that impacted the economy.

"Look how many jobs were lost under Trump in 2020!, and look how many jobs were gained under Biden in 2021-2022" (without factoring in covid), as if to imply that it's directly related to their economic policies and nothing else, is a flimsy rationale for reasons we're all well aware of.

I think it should be pretty apparent (based on the fact that the same economic patterns played out all over the globe in nations with both liberal and conservative leaders) that whoever was presiding over a country in 2020 was going to see huge job losses, and whoever was presiding over it in 2021-2022 was going to see some huge job gains as things went back to being open.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Republicans turn on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as he launches independent bid​

Trump Lays Into RFK Jr. by Claiming ‘He’s Not Really an Anti-Vaxxer’​

“RFK Jr. is a Democrat plant,” Trump said on Thursday in a video posted on Truth Social.

“So, Republicans, get it out of your mind that you’re going to vote for this guy because he’s conservative,” the former president said. “He’s not.

RFK Jr. campaign ‘looking at’ joining forces with Trump, running mate Shanahan says​

“There’s two options that we’re looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump, or we draw somehow more votes from Trump,” Shanahan said in the interview on the “Impact Theory” podcast.

“Or we walk away right now and join forces with ... Donald Trump and you know, we walk away from that and explain to our base why we’re making this decision,” Shanahan told interviewer Tom Bilyeu.

...some polls suggest that the Democratic nominee, Vice President Harris, would be stronger against Trump in swing states when Kennedy is included as a candidate, as opposed to when Kennedy is not an option.

 

[essentialsaltes]

RFK Jr. campaign ‘looking at’ joining forces with Trump, running mate Shanahan says​

Trump says he’d consider appointing RFK Jr. to role in administration if he drops out and endorses him​

“I like him, and I respect him,” Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes in an interview after a campaign stop in Michigan.

Trump said he would “love that endorsement, because I’ve always liked” Kennedy.

Asked if he would consider appointing Kennedy to a role in his administration if he wins in November, Trump said he “probably would.”

Quite a difference from 'a Democrat plant'!

 

[ThatRobGuy]

RFK Jr. campaign ‘looking at’ joining forces with Trump, running mate Shanahan says​

“There’s two options that we’re looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump, or we draw somehow more votes from Trump,” Shanahan said in the interview on the “Impact Theory” podcast.

“Or we walk away right now and join forces with ... Donald Trump and you know, we walk away from that and explain to our base why we’re making this decision,” Shanahan told interviewer Tom Bilyeu.

...some polls suggest that the Democratic nominee, Vice President Harris, would be stronger against Trump in swing states when Kennedy is included as a candidate, as opposed to when Kennedy is not an option.

Sounds like he made the same offer to the Kamala camp as well.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/14/politics/rfk-jr-harris-administration-role/index.html

He's in the unique position of having he potential to play spoiler in both directions (and for whom he spoils i for, would likely differ based on the state in question)

So I think both candidates would have to take a good hard look at the electoral map, and perhaps request some new polls be conducted in order to see which states they absolutely need to snag, and see what kind of impact RFK has in those states.


If Harris absolutely needed to (in order to prevent him siphoning off independents in key states where she'd need to win them), she could consider him for an EPA role.

Obama certainly thought about it back in 2008

https://www.politico.com/story/2008/11/obama-considers-stars-for-cabinet-015320

 

[Goonie]

Sounds like he made the same offer to the Kamala camp as well.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/14/politics/rfk-jr-harris-administration-role/index.html

He's in the unique position of having he potential to play spoiler in both directions (and for whom he spoils i for, would likely differ based on the state in question)

So I think both candidates would have to take a good hard look at the electoral map, and perhaps request some new polls be conducted in order to see which states they absolutely need to snag, and see what kind of impact RFK has in those states.


If Harris absolutely needed to (in order to prevent him siphoning off independents in key states where she'd need to win them), she could consider him for an EPA role.

Obama certainly thought about it back in 2008

https://www.politico.com/story/2008/11/obama-considers-stars-for-cabinet-015320

I really doubt the Dems will accept his offer, and if Trump does, well it plays into the whole weird line of attack the Dems have been poking Trump with.