Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently discussed his views on multiple issues, including his family and his background in politics, in an interview with Tablet Magazine published Monday.
The interview began with the interviewer, David Samuels, talking about how he got to know Kennedy Jr. and his family. (RELATED: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Files Paperwork For 2024 Presidential Run)
I hope to see you in Boston on April 19 when I announce my candidacy for President. Register here: https://t.co/XStf2FPht2 pic.twitter.com/f82gbiOO4D
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 12, 2023
Samuels asked Kennedy Jr. whether he is an “anti-vaxxer.” He added that being an “anti-vaxxer” is seen as a “bad thing” in society, but the “alternative is to accept that it’s absolutely normal for there to suddenly be 27 mandatory vaccines in the state of New York, half of which no one ever contemplated 10 years ago.”
Kennedy Jr., who founded the anti-vaccine charity Children’s Health Defense, replied that it strikes him as a “religious type of belief.”
“Ultimately, they require you to suspend critical thinking and to believe a trusted authority,” he said in the interview. Kennedy Jr. was banned from Instagram in February 2021 for criticizing the COVID vaccine.
Samuels also discussed a “a new system” which he believes is “being put in place.”
“Where do you think it comes from?” Samuels asked Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy Jr. referred to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s speech in which he warned about the “subversion of America’s values and democracy because of the military-industrial complex, which includes the intelligence apparatus.” He also said that when his uncle, John F. Kennedy, became president, he wanted to make sure that Eisenhower’s predictions “didn’t come true.” He also added that his father, Robert F. Kennedy, campaigned against the Vietnam War and “against the domination of American democracy by the military-industrial complex.”
He highlighted in the interview that he believes his uncle and father both died in the “process” of speaking out against aspects of the “military-industrial complex.”
“Since then, we’ve seen the steady subversion of our democracy and the transformation of America into an imperial state abroad and a surveillance state and security state at home. I think the biggest tectonic changes happened because of the Vietnam War,” he said.
Kennedy Jr. also spoke about his pet emu that a lion ate. “My wife was very happy. She hated that emu. I would come home after work, and she’d be at the computer, looking for what the life expectancy was of emus,” he said, according to the outlet.
A recent poll released Sunday found that Kennedy Jr. was polling at 14% for the Democratic presidential nomination.