A FIRM believer in freedom of speech, a vaccine and lockdown sceptic who advocates responsible, limited small government and a restrained foreign policy is running for President of the United States. And he’s a Democrat.
As difficult as this is to believe, there was once a time when these values were common in the Democratic Party. During his presidency from 1961 to 1963, John F Kennedy advocated an $11billion tax cut to jump-start America’s sluggish economy. He executed a remarkable act of geopolitical tightrope-walking by presiding over a foreign policy intended to contain the spread of Communism without provoking nuclear war, resisting pressure from liberal pacifists and hawkish military hardliners in the process. He was a firm believer in personal freedom, initiative and responsibility, famously advising Americans to ‘ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’.
JFK wasn’t a conservative. His insistence on large, bureaucratic government programmes, increases in the minimum wage and his cautious but firm support for civil rights all flew in the face of conservative orthodoxy of that period. But by modern Democrat standards, Kennedy appears downright reactionary.
Under President Biden’s Democrat leadership, America’s economy has ground to a halt, with record levels of borrowing, inflation at its highest in decades and rising fuel and food prices. His reckless foreign policy has included such debacles as the botched Western withdrawal from Afghanistan, an avoidable war between Russia and Ukraine which has led the world to the brink of a Third World War, heightened tensions with China over Taiwan, and a general loss of Western prestige in Africa and Asia.
Yet despite this unimpressive performance, Biden is expected to win his party’s nomination for the presidency in the 2024 election.
He will face competition, however. Robert F Kennedy Jr, son of assassinated Attorney General and Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy, and nephew of the assassinated President, formally launched his 2024 Presidential campaign on April 19 at the family estate, challenging the incumbent geriatric.
Kennedy, 69, is an established lawyer with a history of environmental lawsuits against big business and the federal government. He is a prolific author with 13 books to his name, including a meticulous expose of US Covid tsar Dr Anthony Fauci, which climbed to the top of the bestseller lists upon release in 2021 despite an absence of MSM publicity.
His involvement in the vaccine sceptic movement dates back to 2015 when he became the chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a non-profit organisation which has carried out considerable research into the efficacy and side-effects of vaccines. His willingness to engage in such a controversial subject, years before the Covid-19 pandemic pushed debates about medical autonomy and vaccine efficacy to the forefront of political discourse, adds to his credentials as a maverick who speaks his mind.
In an exciting announcement speech, Kennedy stressed his track record of environmental activism, including an award-winning 2018 case against agrochemicals giant Monsanto, and criticised former President Trump’s acquiescence to lockdowns in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic (an aspect of Trump’s presidency which many conservatives struggle to reconcile). Kennedy stuck to his guns on foreign policy, accusing President Biden of fighting a war that was not ‘in the US national interest’ in Ukraine. This echoes his past statements, especially his 2016 article for Politico opposing Western intervention in Syria.
Kennedy is unlikely to win, as his campaign is probably too far to the right to win over liberal party militants, but his environmentalism may attract support from the party’s left wing, and his rhetoric on foreign policy, which often echoes Conservative isolationists such as Patrick Buchanan, will likely endear him to Republicans.
The latest Kennedy has a reputation for integrity as well as considerable personal appeal; his Reaganesque, straight-talking, charismatic oratory could be crucial in crafting a coalition of Democrats, Republicans and independents to challenge Biden in next year’s Democratic primaries.
Kennedy’s policies won’t appeal to everyone. His preference for withdrawing American troops from foreign bases could cause further global instability, with rogue states unlikely to behave in a world without some degree of American leadership. Likewise, his economic rhetoric does occasionally veer close to leftist populist Bernie Sanders, deterring conservatives. But in today’s Democratic Party, anti-family, anti-patriotic and obsessed with increasingly obscure issues such as trans rights, RFK Jr is a breath of fresh air. His courageous campaign against corrupt and harmful Covid-19 policies will, as time proves him right, reap its rewards. His name too must help.
President John F Kennedy brought courage, discipline and inspiring oratory to America’s highest office. He brought a belief in patriotism, a cautious approach to the use of government which respected the rights and responsibilities of the individual, and a sober, realistic and flexible attitude towards American power epitomised by Theodore Roosevelt’s famous adage ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’. These traditional liberal principles once united all wings of the Democratic Party, which has since radically veered towards the left.
That JFK’s nephew is unlikely to be given a fair hearing by the MSM is an understatement. He will be cancelled, deplatformed and demonised. Yet there are already signs that this so-called ‘anti- vaxxer’ will prove a serious threat to Biden. He’s reported to be rising in the few polls willing to pit him against the incumbent, garnering 19 per cent to Biden’s 62 per cent in the latest Fox News poll, taken April 21 to 24.
Sixty years on from JFK’s assassination, the critical question is whether RFK Jr can restore some much-needed moderacy and reason to the Democratic Party, and democracy to his country.
