Standing in front of a banner that read “Kennedy 2024 Declare Your Independence,” Kennedy proclaimed “I’m here to declare myself an independent candidate …” loud cheers immediately interrupted him. “… an independent candidate for President of the United States, but that’s not all,” he continued.
“I’m here to join you in making a new Declaration of Independence for our entire nation. We declare independence from the corporations that have hijacked our government. And we declare independence from Wall Street, from Big Tech, from Big Pharma, from Big Ag, from the military contractors and their lobbyists. And we declare independence from the mercenary media that is here to fortify all of the corporate orthodoxies from their advertisers and to urge us to hate our neighbors and fear our friends.”
“And finally we declare independence from the two political parties and the corrupt interests that dominate them and the entire rigged system of rancor, of rage, of corruption, of lies that has turned government officials into indentured servants for their corporate bosses,” he concluded. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: RFK Jr. To Speak At CPAC)
“I haven’t made this decision lightly,” he admitted. “It’s very painful for me to let go of the party of my uncles, my father, my grandfather and both of my great grandfathers.”
Kennedy described the blurring of party lines as a major reason for his decision to abandon party politics.
“The right and the left have become all mixed up anyhow. It used to be the Democratic Party opposed censorship. It was the Democratic Party that wanted to reign in the military and the CIA. It was the Democratic Party that fought corporate influence. Remember when Wall Street and big corporations all supported the Republicans?” he asked. “Well who is the liberal now? And who is the conservative? Who is the left and who is the right? These labels make less and less sense. Out of habit we still group ourselves around the empty husks of those old alignments and threadbare ideologies. But now that habit is breaking down.”
— Rob (@RobMcGravytrain) October 9, 2023
Kennedy credited his own commitment to nonpartisan thinking and willingness to change his mind as a reason behind his evolving position on immigration.
“Six months ago I thought that an open border was a humanitarian policy and that if you were for sealing the border you were probably a xenophobe and maybe racist. I was wrong. How did I learn I was wrong?” he asked. “It wasn’t just that I listened to the other side. It was when I actually visited the border and listened to people who weren’t on either side,” Kennedy concluded.
“Going to the border wall was a big big part of it,” Tony Lyons, founder of Kennedy donor American Values PAC, told the Daily Caller. “But I think that he’s been saying for a long time that he wants the border to be impervious, that he will make it impervious. Which is not a statement that we don’t want to welcome people from all around the world, that we don’t need people coming in. Or that we don’t want to give refuge to people that are suffering in other places. But it is a question of … you can’t really be a modern sovereign nation and have an open border. It just doesn’t make sense. So we may need two million people, two and a half million people coming into this country, but we should know who they are. We should have some process. And then once we have a process we should have a real sort of pathway to citizenship for the people we’re inviting in because we need them for all kinds of jobs.”
Supporters at the event came from all over the country. One couple from the Seattle area, who dabble in shamanism, said they put up a giant RFK sign in their yard as soon as Kennedy announced his run. They often hear from neighbors who love the sign.
Another couple, from nearby Bucks County, voted for Trump in 2020 but said they were intrigued by Kennedy and his message. After the event they were convinced they’re making the switch and voting for Kennedy. (RELATED: DAVID BOSSIE: RFK Jr. Is Reminding Voters What The Democrats Used To Be)
“You can read in almost any newspaper that he’s dangerous,” Lyons said of Kennedy. “The question is who is he dangerous to? And I would say he isn’t dangerous to the hardworking people of this country. He’s dangerous to a handful of really, really powerful companies and to a very small number of corrupt politicians,” Lyons concluded.