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You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / 2024 Primaries / Late Night Open Thread: RF(raud)K Jr Has Lost the Mandate…

Late Night Open Thread: RF(raud)K Jr Has Lost the Mandate…

by Anne Laurie|  July 22, 20232:45 am| 56 Comments

This post is in: 2024 Primaries, Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Our Failed Media Experiment

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It was fun while it lasted, but I'm calling it https://t.co/u5Njtv3Ti4

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 21, 2023


… of Our Major Conventional Media. (But so fun, while it lasted!) Benjy Sarlin, for Semafor, “The Robert F. Kennedy Jr. boomlet is over”:

This week marked the official demise of a two-month stretch in which Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was treated as a relevant candidate worthy of significant national media attention. The cause of death: Significant national media attention. His campaign is survived by several of its favorite podcasts.

Thursday’s House appearance told the story. Kennedy was invited by Republicans probing weaponization of government to testify about online censorship of his vaccine takes. Democrats took the occasion to excoriate him over a video in which he suggested COVID-19 may have been bioengineered to avoid “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese,” which he denied was antisemitic. Republicans have distanced themselves from the Jewish conspiracy part, but defended his overall value as a truth teller: “It’s why Mr. Kennedy is running for president, it’s to stop — to help us expose and stop — what’s going on,” Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said…

Kennedy had a brief moment in the sun because he had two superpowers. One, a famous father, which enabled him to soak up just enough support on name ID alone to look credible in early polls. Two, he was an irresistible canvas for every magazine reporter and opinion columnist in America to project their favorite hot take onto.

Do you have 10,000 words of thoughts on the role of conspiracy thinking in American politics? Every writer does! Do you have a hilarious riff about the broader Kennedy clan you’ve been throwing out at parties? Go publish it! Are you a conservative who wants to argue that both sides embrace anti-vaccine cranks? Worth a shot! Would you like to debate the very concept of debates? Go wild! Do you have an angle on how the press covers fringe candidates? I’m giving you one right now!

A similar thing happened with Donald Trump in 2016, who has a magnet for cable segments and thinkpieces alike. But while more coverage of any kind pushed GOP voters towards Trump, Democratic voters began running away as soon as they started learning the first thing about Kennedy’s campaign. And it’s a lot harder to hang a decent column on his candidacy when his base looks like the exact same group of right-leaning conspiracy enthusiasts we already know about.

A Quinnipiac poll this week found Democrats disliked Kennedy by a 2:1 margin, while his numbers were almost perfectly reversed with Republicans. And the picture looked even worse in New Hampshire, where he’s campaigned: A UNH poll found a whopping 69% of Democrats had a negative opinion of him…

media have spent decades greasing the skids for this fucking con, just like they did trump, and just like they've been doing for musk. media and journalists in all of these elite social circles own an awful lot of blame for these people.

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) July 20, 2023

Bill Weld primaried Trump in 2020 and got 1% of the media exposure as the freak show primarying Biden, and he was a former governor.

— Now on Threads! (@agraybee) July 19, 2023

Maya Wiley just leveled RFK Jr’s bigoted rhetoric with an emotional intelligence not often seen in these hearings.pic.twitter.com/WGyuXbG43B

— Renee (@PettyLupone) July 20, 2023

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Previous Post: « Long But Good Day
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Reader Interactions

56Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Rockies

    July 22, 2023 at 2:53 am

    He’s a dead-eyed creep.

  2. 2.

    mrmoshpotato

    July 22, 2023 at 3:30 am

    The K is for kook.

  3. 3.

    mrmoshpotato

    July 22, 2023 at 3:34 am

    @West of the Rockies: Like a doll’s eyes!

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    July 22, 2023 at 3:38 am

    @West of the Rockies:

    I think you may be too nice….

  5. 5.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    July 22, 2023 at 3:43 am

    @mrmoshpotato: The judges will accept “crackpot”.

  6. 6.

    balconesfault

    July 22, 2023 at 3:47 am

    Just not enough Venn overlap between QAnon and Dem voters.

    I’m betting 29 of the 31% of the NH Dems who don’t have a negative opinion are going strictly on name recognition.

  7. 7.

    ColoradoGuy

    July 22, 2023 at 4:08 am

    I wonder what percentage of voters know the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

  8. 8.

    satby

    July 22, 2023 at 4:15 am

    I know he has a rare condition* that causes his vocal problems, but that awful sound coupled with the crackpot views and the angry, entitled old white guy demeanor add up to completely repellant for me. If course, he’d still be completely repellant even if he had the smooth resonant vocal delivery of Orson Welles too.

    *spasmodic dysphonia: often caused by extreme drug use, which he admitted to in his past.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    July 22, 2023 at 4:19 am

    Looking back.

    “A little more of a liberal interpretation, Senator.”
    :)

  10. 10.

    SpaceUnit

    July 22, 2023 at 4:23 am

    So long, weirdo.  Enjoy being Sideshow Bob on Joe Rogan’s Youtube channel.

  11. 11.

    Shalimar

    July 22, 2023 at 4:45 am

    @satby: I know it’s not his fault and i have empathy for him for that, but his voice was completely unlistenable 20 years ago on Air America, when he was just an envirnomental activist pre-awful views.  I can’t listen to him talk about the country’s problems even if he did have something worth saying.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    July 22, 2023 at 4:56 am

    Bill Weld primaried Trump in 2020 and got 1% of the media exposure as the freak show primarying Biden,

    First I heard of it.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    July 22, 2023 at 5:01 am

    @ColoradoGuy:

    That’s what Big Cardinal Directions wants you to think.

  14. 14.

    HumboldtBlue

    July 22, 2023 at 5:02 am

    Wow, dying seconds of the game and the Zambia goalkeeper gets sent off with a second yellow card and gives up a penalty.

  15. 15.

    Tony Jay

    July 22, 2023 at 5:14 am

    Bloody weird having to get my passport stamped to travel on the Eurostar. Yet another ‘Brexit Benefit’. This departure lounge is busier than the complaints desk at an RFK Jr campaign speech in the Simon Wiesenthal Jr Centre for Vaccine Preparedness.

    If anyone’s wondering where half of America are right now, they’re here. I’ll say hi for you.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    July 22, 2023 at 5:18 am

    @Tony Jay:

    Fire a gun into the crowd. Make them feel at home.

  17. 17.

    hells littlest angel

    July 22, 2023 at 5:25 am

    Funny how the Kennedy name and the Kennedy good looks are undercut by the Grandpa Simpson voice spewing Grandpa Simpson crackpottery.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 22, 2023 at 6:08 am

    Off topic but feel the need to pass this on:

    A 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas was rescued in southern California when passersby saw her hold up a “help me” sign in a parked car, police said.

    The rescue occurred 9 July in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, when officers responded to a call and found the “visibly emotional and distressed girl”, police said in a press release on Thursday.

    “Through their investigation, officers learned the Good Samaritans were in a parking lot when they saw the victim in a parked vehicle holding up a piece of paper with ‘help me’ written on it. They acknowledged the note and immediately called 9-1-1,” police said.

    Steven Robert Sablan, 61, of Cleburne, Texas, was arrested and on Thursday was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

    Still not a drag queen.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    July 22, 2023 at 6:21 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Clever girl.

    Was it a group called Good Samaritans, or is the article calling them Good Samaritans?

  20. 20.

    Brachiator

    July 22, 2023 at 6:27 am

    Thursday’s House appearance told the story. Kennedy was invited by Republicans probing weaponization of government to testify about online censorship of his vaccine takes.

    It is good and necessary that a moron like Kennedy is taken down. But I hope the Republicans who also want to indulge in conspiracies and anti-vax nonsense are also dealt with.

    The Republicans invited RFK, Jr. The Republicans need to be held accountable.

  21. 21.

    Tony Jay

    July 22, 2023 at 6:28 am

    Baud:  The international phase of the Baud ‘23 – You Can’t Impeach Me campaign is going to be lit, I can see it now.

  22. 22.

    Tony Jay

    July 22, 2023 at 6:29 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Woke made him do it.

  23. 23.

    eclare

    July 22, 2023 at 6:41 am

    Huh.  An ad during the WWC for a VW that starts when you sit in the driver’s seat.  Does it use butt recognition technology?  Or can any butt can start it?

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 22, 2023 at 6:42 am

    @Baud: That stopped me too but in a 2nd reading it looked like the article is referring to the 2 passersby as good samaritans.

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 22, 2023 at 6:44 am

    @Tony Jay: Of course! It’s so obvious!

  26. 26.

    eclare

    July 22, 2023 at 6:45 am

    Wow amazing save by England GK!

  27. 27.

    Tony Jay

    July 22, 2023 at 6:51 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The poor man was just thinking of the children and it got out of hand. If he hadn’t been forced by those saucy trans groomers in the videos he likes to watch heard about in the internet to think of the children so regularly then this wouldn’t have happened. QED.

  28. 28.

    Soprano2

    July 22, 2023 at 7:08 am

    @satby: Diane Rehm has that condition, too. It took me a little while he get used to hearing her voice without cringing, but she’s such a good interviewer it’s worth it. I miss her having a 5 day a week show. The condition can be treated with Botox injections. Oh, and RFK Jr is a horrible person. Makes you wonder what happened to him, he did good environmental work.

  29. 29.

    evodevo

    July 22, 2023 at 7:10 am

    @satby: I knew several people with the condition…however, there is a remedy nowadays…botox, of all things.  I just wish it had been available when I knew these people…

  30. 30.

    Ha Nguyen

    July 22, 2023 at 7:13 am

    That Haitian goalie is pretty good.

  31. 31.

    Princess

    July 22, 2023 at 7:14 am

    Excellent point about Bill Weld. The media also gave zero attention to the fact the GOP basically cancelled their 2020 primary because Trump was afraid of opposition. Shows how in the tank the media is for GOP victory

    Just imagine what they’d say if Dems were restricting their primaries in 2024 like the GOP did.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    July 22, 2023 at 7:18 am

    @Princess:

    Hell, there’ll be more stories about the unsanctioned New Hampshire primary than there was about the GOP canceling primaries altogether.

  33. 33.

    Raven

    July 22, 2023 at 7:25 am

    There is a soccer thread, please use it!

  34. 34.

    Salty Sam .

    July 22, 2023 at 7:32 am

    @Soprano2:   Diane Rehm has that condition, too… but she’s such a good interviewer it’s worth it.

    Wow.  I guess you and I listened to her on different days- what I recall was her giving way too much platform to centrists, and allowing “both-sidesing” to a massive degree.  She seemed to me to be the ultimate DC insider.

    To each his own I guess…

  35. 35.

    lowtechcyclist

    July 22, 2023 at 7:41 am

    Gotta agree with Golikehellmachine:

    media have spent decades greasing the skids for this fucking con, just like they did trump, and just like they’ve been doing for musk. media and journalists in all of these elite social circles own an awful lot of blame for these people.

    As long as the chattering classes are willing to do puff pieces and inflate the profiles of crazy people, crazy people (and those who would find a benefit in using crazy people to their political advantage) will continue to take advantage of the fact that the media treat our politics like the society pages.

  36. 36.

    Dangerman

    July 22, 2023 at 7:43 am

    Just to piss off RFK, I got another booster. Didn’t qualify but an opportunity presented itself (not reproducible) and I said stick me.

  37. 37.

    BellyCat

    July 22, 2023 at 7:47 am

    @eclare: My seven year old will love this (idiotic) feature!

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    July 22, 2023 at 7:48 am

    @satby:

    *spasmodic dysphonia: often caused by extreme drug use, which he admitted to in his past.

    Interesting how the Partei of Traitors supports him, while telling us that Hunter and his Dad are History’s Greatest Monsters.

  39. 39.

    mali muso

    July 22, 2023 at 7:49 am

    @Soprano2: One of my favorite podcasts, Maintenance Phase, did an excellent episode on him last week and traced his descent into the crazy.  Worth a listen!

  40. 40.

    SFAW

    July 22, 2023 at 7:49 am

    @Dangerman: ​
     
    So you landed the sticking?

  41. 41.

    SFAW

    July 22, 2023 at 7:51 am

    @Raven:

    There is a soccer thread, please use it!

    “You can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!”

  42. 42.

    SFAW

    July 22, 2023 at 7:52 am

    @Baud:

    Well, I’m hoping that would be because YOU will be one of the candidates.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    July 22, 2023 at 8:20 am

    @Tony Jay: Bloody weird having to get my passport stamped to travel on the Eurostar.

    Go bitchslap Nigel and BoJo (and the rest of the Tory trash.)

    How long until Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have successful referendums that go 🖕?

  44. 44.

    zzyzx

    July 22, 2023 at 8:41 am

    @Tony Jay: I thought you’d always need that going into the UK since they were never part of the Schengen area. I know I needed to have my passport stamped and go through a very quick border check on Eurostar on a London > Paris trip in 2018.

  45. 45.

    The Pale Scot

    July 22, 2023 at 10:19 am

    @Tony Jay:

    But the passport is BLUE!!!!

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    July 22, 2023 at 10:21 am

    @Tony Jay: My J and her twin were in Switzerland recently.  She said that Americans were everywhere there too.  They were only able to get away from them on hikes. :-/

    When we were there about 10 years ago, there were lots of Chinese tour groups – not this time.  Maybe they moved on to Monte Carlo or something.  Dunno.

    Enjoy!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Juju

    July 22, 2023 at 10:22 am

    Lawrence O’Donnell did a segment on RFK jr. on Thursday’s show. It is worth watching. Now on to Cornel West and the no labels people and other third party morons.

  48. 48.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 22, 2023 at 10:34 am

    @zzyzx:

    @Tony Jay: I thought you’d always need that going into the UK since they were never part of the Schengen area.

    Bingo! It’s the Schengen status that rules. E.g., traveling from the USA (non-Schengen) to Éire (Schengen) by way of Iceland (Schengen) and the UK (non-Schengen), one’s passport would be examined four times, once at each airport, then four more times on the way back. TJ is just casting about for a reason to fulminate in his inimitable logorrheic fashion.

  49. 49.

    Montanareddog

    July 22, 2023 at 10:52 am

    @Uncle Cosmo: Everybody arriving in and leaving the Schengen area has their passport checked but, prior to Brexit, British citizens would not have their passport stamped. That is the change Tony is fulminating about. Now, they are non-EU, they are effectively in the same bucket as, say, Americans and Canadians.

    ETA: and Eire is not, and never was, in Schengen either, because it was important for Eire to keep borderless movement with the UK. So, Irish citizens arriving in Schengen do not have their passports stamped and can use the EU queue at passport control, but Brits cannot and they get stamped.

  50. 50.

    topclimber

    July 22, 2023 at 11:50 am

    @eclare: Way late but it uses a butt dialing system.

  51. 51.

    Tony G

    July 22, 2023 at 12:45 pm

    @Brachiator: Yesterday the despicable Gary Null was whining that RFK Junior was being “censored” because people were quoting his own lunatic words about the Holocaust.  Horrible human beings.

  52. 52.

    Bill Arnold

    July 22, 2023 at 1:00 pm

    @Tony G:

    Yesterday the despicable Gary Null was whining that RFK Junior was being “censored” because people were quoting his own lunatic words about the Holocaust. Horrible human beings.

    It’s especially despicable because over here in real reality, they are, through propaganda which features absolutely false claims that vaccines are (net)( causing mass death, themselves committing mass homicide. (I have occasionally poked at such claims. They do not survive even lightweight poking. They are bullshit, grounded in bullshit, bullshit all the way down.)

  53. 53.

    Chris T.

    July 22, 2023 at 1:05 pm

    What I don’t get is why RFKJr didn’t just run as a Republican.

  54. 54.

    Tom Q

    July 22, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    @Chris T.: ​
     Because rat-fucks don’t work that way.

  55. 55.

    Captain C

    July 22, 2023 at 1:39 pm

    @Chris T.: Much easier to RatFucK the Democratic primaries if you’re running in them.

  56. 56.

    Tehanu

    July 22, 2023 at 4:32 pm

    @Soprano2: ​

    Oh, and RFK Jr is a horrible person. Makes you wonder what happened to him, he did good environmental work.

    Well, gotta figure seeing his uncle and father be murdered when he was in early adolescence had something to do with it. I doubt he really got the psychiatric help he so obviously needs.​

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