'Putin financing him': Internet divided as RFK Jr renews pledge to pardon Edward Snowden if elected

WASHINGTON, DC: Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has reiterated his pledge to pardon US spy and anti-surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden if he wins, as per the New York Post.

Notably, the Kennedy scion praised Snowden for disclosing highly classified domestic government surveillance programs and launched a petition on Monday, April 1, asking for Snowden's pardon. Snowden is now residing in Russia.

RFK Jr renews pledge to pardon Edward Snowden

RFK Jr said in a video, "Edward Snowden is an American hero. Instead of jailing Snowden, I’m going to build a statue to him and maybe to [WikiLeaks] Julian Assange somewhere near the Washington Press Club or perhaps outside the CIA headquarters in Langley as a civics lesson to the Republic."

He added, "Snowden, who has been in exile for more than a decade, performed a critical public service by revealing that our government had been spying on millions of law-abiding American citizens, in violation of numerous laws and our fundamental right to privacy."

He further stated, "The America I love doesn’t punish whistleblowers. Truth-tellers who champion free speech and try to return America to its democratic and humanitarian ideals should be revered, not prosecuted."

Notably, Kennedy's video message, which included a compilation of former presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W Bush denouncing the accused traitor, emphasized his argument about Snowden's persecution.

In 2013, Snowden leaked a large number of extremely sensitive papers to the Guardian, the Washington Post, and several other media outlets, revealing a long list of NSA and Allied monitoring initiatives.

The massive gathering of people's metadata — the details of when and to whom a phone conversation or email was sent — was one of the main features of the data dump. In the end, Snowden went away to Russia, where he is now living after receiving asylum. He is wanted by the US on allegations of both government material theft and espionage.

Internet divided over RFK Jr's statement

People on the internet remained divided and had mixed reactions after Robert F Kennedy's statement.

A user wrote on X, "Will I vote for #RFK? Maybe. Who will I never ever vote for? #Biden". Another added, "I’ll vote for him".

A person wrote, "He just wants votes but hey he’s taking them from Biden so go for it Robert", whereas one mentioned, "Trump failed to do this". A person also stated, "Trump should make the same pledge."

A person also mentioned, "The dude literally absconded with classified information, and passed it on to our adversaries. Can we PLEASE stop rewarding people who violate their oath to protect classified information?"

A person wrote, "He’s basically telling us Putin is financing him."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.