As the Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. courts controversy with statements on vaccines and the war in Ukraine, former President Trump has lauded him as a “very smart person” in a new interview.
Trump said he knows many of his family members and is a smart guy. He also noted that RFK Jr. seems to have “touched a nerve.” (Something that the former president is very familiar with.)
The remarks were made on an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” Trump claimed that many Democrats he knows plan to vote for him.
After announcing his run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2024, Kennedy received a lot of media attention and is currently polling in the double digits in many surveys.
In recent days, however, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has found himself in the middle of a storm of controversy after making statements regarding the COVID-19 vaccination that suggested it was “ethnically targeted” to target “certain races disproportionately.”
In a video clip, Kennedy can be heard saying that COVID-19 disproportionately attacks certain races and that COVID-19 specifically targets persons of European ancestry and African descent. He said Ashkenazi Jews and the Chinese have the highest resistance.
On Saturday, the long-shot Democratic candidate was criticized for commenting on the Jewish community and legislators.
On Fox News, Trump said that Kennedy Jr. probably won’t have a chance to face President Biden. Trump also said he won’t participate in the Republican primary debate next month, either.
Trump made two points about Biden. He said he couldn’t debate RFK Jr. because he’s incapable, and he questioned why he would debate his opponent because he’s “probably got the nomination locked up.”
Early voting states and national polls have shown that Biden is well ahead of Kennedy Jr.
Democratic strategists attribute Kennedy’s early polling performance partly to name recognition but stress that his views on vaccinations, firearms, the conflict in Ukraine, and other topics are at odds with those of Democratic voters. Democrats have also claimed that conservatives are helping Kennedy’s candidacy.
