Kennedy buzz increases as independent calls Biden worse than Trump

NEWS AND OPINION:

The public is paying attention to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his bid for the White House. The independent presidential candidate was the subject of 63,100 posts on X by noon Tuesday — and no wonder.

He has introduced his vice presidential running mate, Nicole Shanahan, and has a respectable 2.8 million followers on the aforementioned social media platform. He seems deft at attracting coverage and provocative headlines from the cranky news media, especially in recent remarks about President Biden and former President Donald Trump. A few examples from the last 24 hours:

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Biden may be a bigger threat to democracy than Trump” (The Washington Post); “Robert Kennedy Jr. calls Biden ‘much worse threat to democracy’ than Trump” (The Guardian); “RFK Jr. says Biden is bigger threat to democracy than Trump” (CNN); “RFK Jr. makes wild claim that Biden is arguably a ’much worse threat to democracy’ than Trump” (HuffPost); “RFK Jr. doubles down on warning Biden is ’much worse’ than Trump: ’Genuine threat to our democracy’” (Fox News); “RFK Jr. lays out argument that Biden’s a bigger threat to democracy than Trump” (Daily Beast); and “RFK Jr.’s sister Rory is ’concerned’ his presidential campaign could help Trump over Biden” (ABC News).

KENNEDY HAS A SAY

“I don’t look at myself as liberal or conservative. I just — I feel like I’m commonsense on issues,” the aforementioned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News on Tuesday.

“I think the issues that are really existential in this country are issues that are important to both political parties. The national debt is $34 trillion now. We’re now spending more on servicing that debt and paying off the interest than we pay for the military. Within five years, 50 cents of every dollar collected in taxes is going to go to the debt. This is unsustainable. Within 10 years it will be 100%,” Mr. Kennedy said.

“President Trump and President Biden ran up that debt, the two of them, in just four years. Ran up a higher debt than all the presidents in history, back to George Washington, combined. And so I don’t think we’re going to get change. And this is really existential for our children,” he said.

ROY’S PROMISE

Rep. Chip Roy has a clear message for his constituents. The Texas Republican has outlined his plans to support and to fight for the interests of Texas’ 21st Congressional District — and the U.S. in general.

“I can promise you, if House leadership puts a Ukraine bill on the floor before first scoring border security policy wins, there’s going to be a problem within the ranks on Capitol Hill. We cannot continue to spend billions on a foreign country’s border and abandon leverage to secure the border of the United States,” the lawmaker said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“Congress was solely given the power of the purse to ensure our leaders did not stray from their intended purpose. Republicans can’t keep rolling over on meaningful fights. That’s why I’m pushing my colleagues to leverage upcoming spending discussions to demand meaningful policy wins and to stop greenlighting radical progressive Democrat agendas that directly harm Americans,” Mr. Roy continued.

“If we’re going to win in November, Republicans need to lead. Republicans can’t continue to be Democrat-lite, which is what they’re doing,” he said.

A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

One astute observer asserts that President Biden has a unique living circumstance, so to speak.

“He’s doubling down on divisiveness. You saw that in his State of the Union address, probably the most divisive State of the Union anyone’s seen. He’s living in a parallel universe,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in an interview with Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo.

“He thinks the economy is doing great. Most hardworking families will tell you it’s not because of Joe Biden’s policies. And by the way, they’re furious about this open southern border, when they see thousands of people a day coming across, including people on the terrorist watch list. You’ve seen Chinese nationals of military age coming across every single day now,” Mr. Scalise said.

“And Joe Biden lets it happen. He could stop it on his own today, with his own pen that he signs all those executive orders with; but he won’t because he wants this to happen and families are fed up with it. It’s why President Trump’s doing so well in those swing states like Michigan — like Wisconsin, and of course Pennsylvania and others,” he said.

FOXIFIED

Fox News finished the first quarter of 2024 as cable TV’s most-watched network through the day and into prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox News averaged 1.3 million daily viewers in the daytime hours. In the all-important prime-time hours, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., the audience numbered 2.1 million, Nielsen reported. Fox News also aired 95 of the top 100 telecasts in cable news over the three-month period.

In comparison, rival MSNBC had 1.3 million prime-time viewers and 814,000 daytime viewers, while CNN attracted 594,000 in prime time and 467,000 during the day.

Fox News has its share of the powerhouse programs. “The Five” averaged 3 million viewers per day, followed by “Jesse Watters Primetime” (2.8 million), “Hannity” (2.4 million), and “The Ingraham Angle,” “Special Report With Bret Baier” and “Gutfeld” — which each enjoyed an average daily audience of 2.2 million, according to Nielsen.

POLL DU JOUR

• 23% of U.S. adults say “political extremism or threats to democracy” is the most important problem facing the U.S. today.

• 19% cite the economy, employment and jobs.

• 17% cite immigration.

• 6% cite crime or corruption.

• 4% cite abortion issues, 4% cite war or foreign conflicts.

• 3% cite the health care system, 3% cite the environment and climate.

• 2% cite inequality and discrimination, 2% cite immorality.

• 1% cite public health, disease and illness, 1% cite education, 1% cite terrorism.

• 0% cite energy issues.

• 6% don’t know what the most important problem is.

• 6% cite some other problem.

SOURCE: A Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1.021 U.S. adults conducted online March 22-24.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.