RFK Jr slammed as he tries to clarify stance that Biden is 'much worse threat to democracy' than Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: Robert F Kennedy Jr found himself at the center of controversy following his recent remarks about the potential threat posed by President Joe Biden to democracy. Kennedy's comments, made during an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, ignited a firestorm of headlines and reactions across social media platforms.

Kennedy's assertion that President Biden could be a more significant threat to democracy than former President Donald Trump stemmed from his belief that Biden was the first president in history to use federal agencies to censor political speech.

Robert F Kennedy Jr's original argument

He stated, "I can make the argument that President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used federal agencies to censor political speech."

Despite the backlash, Kennedy stood by his stance, reiterating his concerns during a subsequent appearance on Fox News. “What President Trump said about questioning the election and to the extent that he engaged in an effort to overthrow that, of course, that’s a threat to democracy, but it is not the worst, right?” he told the outlet.

Attempt to clarify stance

However, Kennedy's position appeared to evolve as he addressed the issue again during an interview with NewsNation's Chris Cuomo. He clarified that he did not believe either Trump or Biden posed existential threats to democracy, attributing any misinterpretation of his remarks to CNN's framing of the issue.

"What I said was that I can make this argument, and I didn’t say definitively whether I believed one or the other was more dangerous to democracy," he told Cuomo. "I did say that I don’t believe either of them is going to destroy democracy. Both sides are telling us the other guy is the end of the republic. But you know, they’re both lame-duck presidents. They’re going to be in there four years," Kennedy explained.

"Like, their political opponents are going to be announced two years later, there’ll be a new Congress in two years later. And we have strong institutions in our country — we have judiciary, we have the press, to some extent, we’ve got Congress, and you have the military," he continued.

"You’ve got a lot of institutions that are bulwarks against a tyrant coming in to take over democracy ... They cut my quote so it looked like I was making this definitive statement that Biden was more of a threat to democracy than Trump. But of course, I never said that."

Kennedy claimed both sides painted each other as threats and projected a "binary choice where we’re forced into the canal."

"I have a much higher popularity rating than either these candidates, so more people would rather see me in office presumably than either of them," he added. "But they’re not going to vote for me because the, you know, the media and this whole sort of cartel from both sides is telling them, 'Oh, you have to choose between these two guys, the other guy is so scary.'"

Social media backlash

Kennedy's attempt to clarify his position triggered a flurry of reactions on social media, with many criticizing him for attempting to backtrack on his earlier statements.

"No Bobs you said what you said and it's too late to walk it back and do damage control!" one posted on X.

"Biden is definitively worse for 'democracy' which doesn't need to be walked back," another opined.

"Has there ever been a time where Bobby Kennedy hasn't said 'I didn't say that' when confronted with things he's said?" someone else wondered.

"It seems that Bobby Kennedy spends a lot of time criticizing media outlets for misquoting him, for 'cutting him' off... inevitably, the journalist plays back exactly what he said. Must be media bias. The Media Industrial Complex is out to censor him, torpedo his candidacy," another commented.

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