Is RFK Jr. a real threat to Biden?

Published: Jul. 21, 2023 at 5:26 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Political parties usually rally behind incumbents running for another term in office. But one politically connected candidate thinks Joe Biden does not deserve a second term in the Oval Office.

John F. Kennedy was his uncle and the 35th president of the United States. Robert F. Kennedy was his dad and ran to be the 37th president. Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he wants to be president to carry out the vision the Kennedys had for America of “racial harmony and prosperity for all Americans.”

“It’s time to unlearn the reflexes of fear and blame and find ways to unify ourselves and turn our country around,” said Kennedy Jr. in his campaign announcement video.

However, RFK Jr. admits he is not the “ideal presidential candidate.”

“I’m not one of these people who’ve spent their life saying, I’ve got to be really careful because one day I’m going to be in the White House,” Kennedy Jr. said during his campaign announcement speech in April.

Kennedy is an environmental lawyer who fought for clean water on a global scale, but he is also a conspiracy theorist. He has made false claims like vaccines cause autism and the COVID vaccine was made to control people by microchip. We reached out to Kennedy Jr.’s campaign multiple times but they never agreed to an interview.

On Thursday, he claimed in testimony to a House panel that the Biden Administration has censored him.

“Nobody ever has ever pointed to a single piece of misinformation that I publish. I was removed for something they called “malinformation,” said Kennedy Jr.

“It’s a mixed record at best. He’s never run for public office. He is a national name just in terms of his family name,” said Thomas Sutton, Ph.D., political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University.

That Kennedy name has likely helped him gain support. Polls put his average around 15 percent of likely Democratic primary voters. But professor Sutton thinks Kennedy’s numbers are more about Democrats’ dissatisfaction with President Biden.

When asked if he thinks President Biden has a realistic challenge to his nomination in 2024, Sutton said, “I think this is a challenge that could take off, but it would only take off if other establishment leaders in the Democratic Party started to get behind Kennedy’s run. And I highly doubt that’s happened.”

The Democratic National Committee has signaled it will not allow Kennedy and Biden to debate.