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RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. Gives Fawning Interview To 'Repulsive' QAnon-Linked Magazine

The QAnon-affiliated revival of the late John F. Kennedy Jr.’s magazine George interviewed independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said that his cousin would “really like” the magazine’s revival.

George was originally established in 1995 by John F. Kennedy Jr. and went defunct in 2001 following its founder’s 1999 death in a plane crash. The magazine was revived last year by Gene Ho, a photographer for former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who has promoted the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory.

Ho has appeared at QAnon events and reportedly “stressed to attendees that he believed that the Q movement ‘is all about blood.’” John F. Kennedy Jr. himself has a special place in QAnon lore, with some in the community falsely claiming that he is still alive and will team up with Trump as his running mate. As noted byMother Jones, Ho “used to sell T-shirts online emblazoned with ‘Trump/Kennedy 2020.’”

On October 7 — just two days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he would be running as an independent instead of continuing in the Democratic primary — Kennedy sat down for an interview with “Rachel Writeside Blonde,” the executive managing editor of George. Writeside Blonde is a QAnon supporter who has associated with QAnon influencers Tom Sidney Bushnell (known online as “Tom Numbers”) and Wayne Willott, known online as “Juan O. Savin.” (Some have falsely claimed that Savin is John F. Kennedy Jr.)

During the interview, Kennedy promised to give Americans “good information” and attacked the media, accusing intelligence agencies of “manipulating the American press for many, many years” and media outlets of being “CIA assets” in response to a question from Writeside Blonde about a “coordinated effort between big tech and government.”

The two praised each other throughout the interview. Writeside Blonde said Kennedy’s answers were “so great,” and Kennedy wished the magazine “the best of luck” and said that his late cousin would “really like this.” (A staffer of the original version of the magazine and a friend of John F. Kennedy Jr. both appear to disagree, telling Mother Jones last year that the QAnon revival of the magazine “makes me sick” and was “repulsive,” respectively.)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interview with this QAnon-linked outlet comes as he and his anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense have promoted and partnered with multiple QAnon conspiracy theorists over the years, and Kennedy has built alliances with and promoted misinformation from anti-vaccine and far-right figures in general.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Why Trump's Campaign Is Increasingly Fearful Of RFK Jr.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is bringing in a larger-than-expected fundraising haul from donors who previously gave to former President Donald Trump, causing some Republicans to grow increasingly worried about his 2024 bid.

A new analysis of federal campaign finance records by Politico shows that the independent candidate has gotten a disproportionate amount of contributions from big donors who previously gave through WinRed – a grassroots fundraising tool used by Republicans. RFK Jr.'s nearly $2 million fundraising total from those approximately 2,100 large donors is just one-fifth of the roughly $10 million he brought in from large donors that didn't donate to any candidates in either 2016 or 2020.

The scion of the Kennedy political dynasty also brought in approximately $1.4 million from close to 1,700 contributors who previously gave through Democratic-aligned fundraising platform ActBlue. And as of the September 30 fundraising deadline, RFK Jr. raised more than $5 million from small donors. Large donors accounted for approximately two-thirds of the candidate's total.

"When Kennedy goes out there and runs against that establishment, he has to appreciate it probably ends up splitting votes off from President Trump," Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio), who has already endorsed Trump in 2024, told Politico.

In addition to siphoning off Trump donors, RFK Jr. is also enticing backers of other Republican presidential candidates to give to his campaign. Politico found that more than 160 of Kennedy's financial supporters also gave to tech entrepreneur and 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, and 100 more previously gave money to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

When breaking down RFK Jr.'s donors by campaign cycle, Politico also found that they gave a combined $216,000 to Donald Trump in 2016, compared to $124,000 for Hillary Clinton. And in 2020, RFK Jr.'s contributors donated $593,000 to Trump and $189,000 to Joe Biden. The comparison becomes even more stark in the current election cycle. Donors who gave to RFK Jr. this year also donated $170,000 to the 45th president of the United States, and just $2,000 to President Biden.

While Vance expressed concern about Kennedy, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) — another Trump acolyte — downplayed the independent presidential candidate's fundraising data.

"Oftentimes people can donate to someone that they’re not even voting for just to see their argument platforms," Gaetz said. "We’ve seen those calls among the sort of junior varsity slate of Republicans seeking the nomination, so I’m not as concerned about [donors]."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. Says He Backs National Abortion Ban

Conspiracy theorist and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed Sunday that he would back a national abortion ban after first three months of pregnancy, NBC exclusively reports.

Despite Kennedy's choice to identify as a Democrat, the Democratic hopeful's more conservative opinions have landed him on the radar of Republicans like Florida governor and 2024 Republican candidate Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis, who passed a six-week abortion ban in the Sunshine State this year, has said he would consider appointing Kennedy to lead either the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) if elected president.

During an NBC News interview at the Iowa State Fair Sunday, Kennedy said, "I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life. Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child. I'm for medical freedom. Individuals are able to make their own choices."

NBC reports that when the presidential hopeful was "pressed" further on the matter, he confirmed that he would sign "a federal ban at 15 or 21 weeks."

The New Republicreports, "An overwhelming majority of Americans—62 percent, to be exact—still think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center. What's more, people consistently vote in favor of increasing abortion rights protections."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. SuperPAC Is Advertising On Racist Fringe Outlet

The fringe outlet Creative Destruction Media posts content attacking purported “Black and brown invaders from Northern Africa and the MidEast” with “a primitive culture”; advising readers to arm themselves against transgender people; and falsely claiming that the 2020 election was “fraudulent” and “stolen” from Donald Trump.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s super PAC has been spending thousands on advertising on the right-wing outlet.

American Values 2024 is a super PAC run by close Kennedy associates, including friend and Skyhorse Publishing President Tony Lyons. (Skyhorse has published numerous conspiracy theory-filled books, including Kennedy’s The Real Anthony Fauci.) Politico recently noted that the PAC received “more than half its nearly $10 million in funds from a single GOP donor.” Kennedy promoted content from the PAC last week.

Kennedy’s PAC stated in a recently filed Federal Election Commission report that it spent $6,500 in late June on “web advertising” to Creative Destruction Media. The PAC has continued to send money to the outlet as CDM has been running American Values 2024 ads as recently as last week.

CDM frequently posts pro-Kennedy content and has defended his antisemitic COVID-19 conspiracy theory.

Kennedy himself is connected to the company: He has joined with Creative Destruction Media in legal action over alleged free speech violations. The Ohio chapter of Kennedy’s anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense also partnered with Creative Destruction Media for a May 2022 event.

The presidential candidate has ties to numerous extremists and right-wing figures, while conservative media figures like Trump allies Steve Bannon and Roger Stone have been praising his campaign. Children’s Health Defense has also conducted outreach to users of the far-right social media platform Gab in 2021, including white supremacists, QAnon conspiracy theorists, and an open neo-Nazi.

CDM is another right-wing site that promotes bigotry and conspiracy theories. In addition to its main site, it also runs various other properties and local-themed sites. The following are examples of CDM’s work and indicate the type of audience Kennedy’s PAC is apparently trying to reach:

Bigoted rhetoric against non-whites. CDM’s property The Manhattan (which has run pro-Kennedy advertising) posted a racist piece headlined “Import A Primitive Culture, Become A Jungle” that warns readers about purported “Black and brown invaders from Northern Africa and the MidEast.” It concludes: “The new ‘colonizers’ aren’t white. They’re not of European descent. The people looking to enslave, dominate, and oppress Western countries are experienced in doing it in their own countries, which are the hollow shells they fled.”

CDM publisher L. Todd Wood also uses the site to complain about Black Americans, writing in a piece headlined “Black Democrats Owe White America Reparations For The Destruction They Have Caused”: “What black Democrat America has done to our once-great American cities is truly sickening. White America is owed reparations for the destruction that has been wrought against our country. … Black Democrat America wants no accountability at all for their behavior. They just want free stuff, and they want to take it from you in some kind of made up racism BS. I for one am tired of it. This is of course not all of black America. Many have left the Democratic plantation and many more will have done so after the election.”

Anti-LGBTQ bigotry. The site promotes hatred of LGBTQ people, including publishing pieces with the headlines “The Emperor Has No Clothes: Rejecting The Totalitarian Transgender Movement”; “The Revolting Misogyny Of The Transgendered”; and “The Powerful ‘Trans' Lobby Wants Special Privileges, Not Equal Rights.” Wood wrote a piece calling transgender people “mentally ill” and stated: “The mental illness is mutating into a domestic terrorist threat. It's time to shut this threat to our children down at the source - the teacher's unions, the corrupt medical community, and the government. In the meantime, get your concealed carry license and protect your family.”

Election denial. CDM has run articles falsely claiming that the 2020 election was “stolen” and “fraudulent.” Wood wrote a piece headlined “Fraudulent Election Will Be Overturned, But Biden Chinese Masters Could Strike Militarily Or Via Terror” that concluded: “Let's put our faith in God and his instrument - President Trump. Stop the Steal!”

QAnon. The site has endorsed the QAnon conspiracy theory. It published a November 2020 piece headlined “Q Was Right” and told readers: “After exhaustive meetings with sources in Ukraine, who provided reams of documentary evidence for hours, CDMedia has been exposed to a massive international criminal conspiracy which spans continents and decades. Q was right. Our wold is run by a criminal syndicate unlike mankind has ever known.”

Mass shooting conspiracy theories. Wood has posted content pushing conspiracy theories about mass shootings. He wrote a May 2022 piece with the headline “Facts Beg The Question - Was Uvalde School Shooting Manufactured To Take Your Guns?” He wrote: “At the very least, the American people deserve an investigation and answers. … Since we know the Biden crime family was in bed with the communist regime, the natural inclination is to assume OBiden is working for the CCP to bring down our nation.”

He also wrote in April 2021: “After years of a relatively gun violence-free Trump administration, the mass shootings have returned with a vengeance, timed suspiciously with the new Leftists push for gun control. … They want your guns and they want them now. This is the one thing standing between the globalists and complete tyrannical control, slavery, serfdom, Hell on Earth.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.