RFK Jr recalls Trump meeting that changed his views: ‘Everything I heard about him was a lie’
DALLAS, TEXAS: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said at the Republican National Committee's midterm convention that a meeting with Donald Trump after the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, changed his view of the future president.
Kennedy said Trump contacted him hours after the shooting to set up the meeting, which he described as the beginning of a change in his views of Trump.
RFK Jr reveals Trump meeting’s impact on views
"The day that President Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania. Within three hours of his shooting, he called me and asked me for a meeting," Kennedy told the crowd.
He said that during the conversations that followed, his perception of Trump shifted dramatically.
🔥 WOW! RFK Jr. just got a standing ovation for admitting this at the RNC:
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 11, 2026
"The day Trump was shot in Butler PA, within 3 hours, he called me for a meeting...I realized that everything I heard and believed about Trump from the mainstream media WAS A LIE."
"EVERYTHING."
👏🏻👏🏻… pic.twitter.com/K0g5iGN9W6
"During the series of talks that followed, I realized that everything that I had heard about President Trump, everything I believed about him from the mainstream media was a lie," Kennedy said, before repeating the point for emphasis: "Everything."
The remarks drew a standing ovation from the convention crowd.
Kennedy did not specify which claims or impressions about Trump he felt were false, referring generally to a reconsideration of his views of the president after meeting with him following the shooting.
The Butler rally shooting occurred on July 13, 2024, leaving one rally attendee dead and several others injured, including Trump himself.
Trump has noted that the meetings took place after the assassination attempt that spurred Kennedy to end his own presidential campaign and endorse Trump in August.
Kennedy’s political journey to the Trump administration
Kennedy, who initially ran as a Democrat and then as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election, dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump in the weeks after the Butler shooting.
He was later nominated by Trump to head the Department of Health and Human Services, where he has promoted a number of "Make America Healthy Again" initiatives.
Kennedy's endorsement was seen as a significant moment in the 2024 campaign, given his family's Democratic roots and his criticisms of both parties as an independent candidate.
The comments came at the RNC convention, where Kennedy is one of the administration's most visible faces, often speaking about health care policies as well as Trump and the GOP ahead of the November midterms.
Speaking at the RNC meeting gave Kennedy an opportunity to reiterate his take on how his political trajectory shifted over the past two years.
Kennedy also turned to his reasons for leaving the Democratic Party, lamenting that the Democrats, whom he had supported his whole life, began to depart from their longstanding principles during the Covid-19 pandemic by implementing draconian worship bans and social distancing measures.
