(NewsNation) — Good evening, and welcome to NewsNation’s live coverage of our Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Town Hall. To watch the town hall on a big screen, use our channel finder to find NewsNation on your cable or satellite provider. Otherwise, you can see the town hall live from here.
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“I wish him and his family the best,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said when asked about the coverage of the president’s son’s substance misuse issues.
Kennedy notes he wants to deescalate political rhetoric when pressed on how Hunter Biden’s addiction has been covered in the press and addressed by political figures.
“We need to start figuring out how to talk with Americans with whom we disagree,” Kennedy told Vargas.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strikes a personal tone talking about his battles with addiction.
He notes — as has been publicly known before — that he was an addict for 14 years.
Kennedy says he still goes to “probably nine meetings a week” in recovery.
He then segues from the personal to the political, noting he would decriminalize marijuana and “make safe banking laws for people who are selling it.”
But he adds that he would tax the consequent income federally and “use that money to build these healing centers in rural areas” for those struggling with addiction.
Josue Pasillas, the son of a Mexican immigrant, asks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. how he plans to address immigration. Kennedy says it won’t be possible for Congress to pass immigration reform before the U.S. can “seal the border.” He discusses a recent trip to the border, where he says he witnessed “hundreds and hundreds” of people coming across, mostly men from Africa.
Kennedy signaled support for more infrastructure and technology at the border, including more segments of a physical wall and sensors in areas where a wall isn’t feasible.
“Immigration is good for our country, but this kind of immigration is unfair to everybody,” Kennedy says.
Here’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussing the state of America’s foreign policy.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has emphasized to us on the campaign trail he’s not interested in a cabinet position or to just bring attention to a series of issues. He’s in this race to win.
The path he sees is through the middle, through moderate voters. In this world of polarization and appealing to bases on either side of the aisle, Kennedy has consistently made appeals at his events to certain groups of voters such as “homeless Republicans” and “FDR Democrats.” He cites polling data which suggests there is an appetite in both parties for someone other than President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump to reside in the White House.
The issue is many states have “closed primaries,” which means independent and unaffiliated voters don’t have a say in who will represent their party atop the ticket. Only Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary, and only Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary.
The state of New Hampshire, however, allows unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in the state’s primary. Unaffiliated voters make up a plurality in The Granite State — more than 40%. That’s where he sees an opportunity.
Add to the fact there’s a possibility President Biden will not appear on the ballot if New Hampshire ignores the DNC’s newly released schedule and holds its primary before South Carolina, it’s no surprise Kennedy spent so much time in the state last week.
Here’s Robert F. Kennedy discussing the state of the Democratic Party.
RFK Jr asked about reducing inflation and immediately talked about the harm of raising interest rates. Remember: The Fed is raising rates to try to bring inflation down. Inflation is dropping, but nowhere near the Fed’s target area of 2% annually. Fed Chair Jay Powell today suggested rates will rise another .5 % later this year.
George Cahill, a home builder, wants to know how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to lower inflation. Kennedy says the current method of raising interests is doing “tremendous damage” to the economy. “We’ve sandbagged Americans,” he said.
To tackle inflation, Kennedy says he’ll “wind down the American empire,” citing the millions spent on the war in Iraq. Redirected by Vargas, Kennedy says the U.S. needs to stop spending money on things it can’t afford, including wars. “We’re not going to end (inflation) overnight, but we’ve got to stop (spending).”
Asked by Elizabeth Vargas whether he will “pledge to support whoever the Democratic nominee is,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responds, “Oh, of course I’m not gonna do that.”
That seems unlikely to endear him to Democratic voters, even those who don’t thrill to the idea of a second Biden term.
My “plan is to win this election and I don’t have a Plan B,” Kennedy says.
That draws laughter — not, to my ears, of the supportive kind — from the crowd in our Chicago studio.
Elizabeth Vargas asks Kennedy what he thinks of former President Trump:
“I’m not going to attack other people personally,” he responds.
That’s all very well — but it is likely to deepen Democratic voters’ concerns over the issue that animated Elizabeth’s question: Is Kennedy really a Democrat?
His views on the war in Ukraine, vaccines, the COVID pandemic and guns — among other things — are out of step with most Democratic voters.
Deepening Democratic suspicion, Kennedy’s candidacy has received a conspicuously warm welcome from controversial Republicans, including former President Trump — as Elizabeth noted.
Trump has called Kennedy “a common sense guy.”
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has seemed enthused about Kennedy’s prospects:
Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon had reportedly been encouraging Kennedy to run “for months” before he did so.
Trump ally and longtime mischief-maker Roger Stone has floated the idea of a Trump-Kennedy presidential ticket.
With friends like those, it’s hardly surprising many Democrats have their doubts.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes multiple references to his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, in his answer about Russia. I’m not sure how well that translates, considering there are multiple generations of voters who do not know what Kennedy’s presidency was like firsthand. Not to mention, JFK is not on the ballot.
Elizabeth Vargas describes Russian President Vladimir Putin, correctly, as an “autocrat” and asks Kennedy why it would not encourage other autocrats if “you award him part of Ukraine” to resolve the conflict.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives a somewhat convoluted answer about President Kennedy, Vietnam and the Cuban Missile Crisis, before asserting that the U.S. has committed “a series of provocations” toward Russia.
“They have a legitimate concern about us moving NATO into the Ukraine,” he says.
Vargas: “You seem to be out of step with Democratic voters”
Kennedy: “If every Democrat is against me on that, I’m still going to say it.”
These are the kinds of views that enthuse votes on the far-left regarding Kennedy’s candidacy. But, in an Economist/YouGov poll released this week, a tiny 9% of Democrats wanted to reduce military aid to Ukraine. Thirty percent of independents and 41% of Republicans favored the same position.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says Russia has “legitimate concern” about NATO trying to push further east into Europe by allowing Ukraine to join the military organization. “We have to be able to put ourselves in their position,” he says.
The first question for RFK Jr. comes from Tiani Coleman in New Hampshire, who asks Kennedy whether he really believes Russia has “acted in good faith” toward trying to resolve the Ukraine war.
“That is a bit of a misstatement,” says Kennedy — but he goes on to claim that there was some framework of a peace agreement at an earlier stage, and claims that then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was “dispatched by the White House to sabotage that agreement.”
Let the controversy commence.
Kennedy noted he is sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and says Putin invaded the country illegally, but criticizes the role of the U.S. in the conflict.
“We have neglected many, many opportunities to settle this war peacefully,” Kennedy said. “We have turned that nation into a proxy war between Russia and the United States.”
This is notable because one of Biden’s major strengths is foreign policy. It’s not necessarily a top priority for voters, but it’s a way for Kennedy to hit Biden.