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RFK Jr’s powerful speech to America explaining his dramatic political journey
From LifeSiteNews
RFK Jr. is throwing his support behind Donald Trump over agreement on ‘existential issues,’ including free speech, and over his concern about the Democratic Party ‘dismantling’ democracy and rejecting its previous ideals.
Democratic environmental activist turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has withdrawn from the race and endorsed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, following Democrats’ replacement of incumbent President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as their presumptive nominee.
Kennedy made the announcement in a speech live-streamed across social media, opening by recalling that he considered the Democratic Party of his youth a party of workers, free speech, transparency, and democracy, but left when it became clear to him that was no longer the case. He then thanked his team for their strenuous work to collect the signatures necessary to get on the ballot.
“I will leverage your tremendous accomplishments” to advance his and his supporters’ shared values, he went on, claiming he believed he would have won the election in a fair system and independent media, and without social media censorship.
But “in the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it,” he said, describing the Democratic National Committee’s legal challenges to his own bid, “rigging” of the Democratic primary on behalf of Biden, and eventual replacement of him with Harris, as well as the government’s various prosecutions of Trump.
At the same time, he took solace in his ideas “flourishing” over the past year, particularly among young people, thanks in large part to alternative media.
In keeping with his desire not to become a “spoiler” with no path to the White House himself, and considering his internal polling showing that remaining in the race would have thrown the outcome to Harris, Kennedy announced that he is suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump over the issues of “free speech, war in Ukraine, and war on our children,” including chronic disease.
Notably, he stressed that while he is having his name removed from the ballots of 10 battleground states where he could impact a close race, it will remain in solid red and solid blue states, where he gave his blessing for supporters to vote for him on the outside chance nobody else won enough support for an outright victory.
Kennedy added that over the past two months, he and Trump have had a series of productive discussions about working together on “existential” issues on which they are aligned, while continuing to disagree on issues where they differ. By contrast, he says he tried to initiate similar discussions with Harris, but was rebuked.
Video Note: RFK Jr speaks at 41:10 of this video. Skip ahead to 41:10
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Address to the Nation https://t.co/Wf4xt12GSX
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 23, 2024
Kennedy, nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy and son of the late Attorney General Robert Kennedy, announced in April 2023 he would be running in the Democratic primary against Biden, presenting himself as a challenger to the platforms of both parties. But after months of accusing party leadership of having “rigged” the primary process against him, Kennedy announced that October that he was switching to an independent bid.
As a longtime Democrat, Kennedy held and continues to hold left-wing views on most issues, but enjoyed support along non-traditional lines and even among some conservatives for his strong criticism of COVID-19 lockdowns, mandates, and shots, to the point that there is some overlap between fans of Kennedy and fans of Trump, whose administration initially backed the lockdowns before changing course and who embraces the shots to this day while criticizing mandates.
Few expected Kennedy to actually become president, but he generated significant speculation as to whether he would draw more votes from Trump or Biden (who has since stepped aside in favor of nominating Harris) and was embraced as a symbolic protest vote for many dissatisfied with the major parties.
However, Kennedy blunted much of the enthusiasm for himself in March when he announced as his running mate tech industry insider Nicole Shanahan, whose background as a Democratic donor disappointed many who had expected a more outside-the-box pick.
Rumors first surfaced last month that Kennedy was planning to drop out and endorse Trump, which he called “FAKE NEWS” at the time. The same rumor returned this week, but instead of denying it Kennedy announced only that he would “address the nation live on Friday about the present historical moment and his path forward.”
Further adding credibility to the speculation was Shanahan expressing unusual candor in a Tuesday interview about the campaign contemplating whether to “stay in the race and run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump” or “walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump.”
It remains to be seen whether Kennedy’s support will impact the trajectory of the race. National polling aggregations by RealClearPolitics and RaceToTheWH currently show a close but persisting lead for Harris in both popular vote and Electoral College projections.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
A woman who survived the Hanukkah terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia said on Monday that police officers seemed less concerned about stopping the attack than they were about keeping her from fighting back.
A father and son of Pakistani descent opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding 40, with one being slain on the scene by police and the other wounded and taken into custody. Vanessa Miller told Erin Molan about being separated from her three-year-old daughter during Monday’s episode of the “Erin Molan Show.”
“I tried to grab one of their guns,” Miller said. “Another one grabbed me and said ‘no.’ These men, these police officers, they know who I am. I hope they are hearing this. You are weak. You could have saved so many more people’s lives. They were just standing there, listening and watching this all happen, holding me back.”
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“Two police officers,” Miller continued. “Where were the others? Not there. Nobody was there.”
New South Wales Minister of Police Yasmin Catley did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation about Miller’s comments.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to enact further restrictions on guns in response to the attack at Bondi Beach, according to the Associated Press. The new restrictions would include a limit on how many firearms a person could own, more review of gun licenses, limiting the licenses to Australian citizens and “additional use of criminal intelligence” to determine if a license to own a firearm should be granted.
Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, reportedly went to the Philippines, where they received training prior to carrying out the Sunday attack, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Naveed Akram’s vehicle reportedly had homemade ISIS flags inside it.
Australia passed legislation that required owners of semi-automatic firearms and certain pump-action firearms to surrender them in a mandatory “buyback” following a 1996 mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, that killed 35 people and wounded 23 others. Despite the legislation, one of the gunmen who carried out the attack appeared to use a pump-action shotgun with an extended magazine.
President Trump on Tuesday ordered a “total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers moving into or out of Venezuela, sharply escalating pressure on the socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro and framing the move as a national security response to terrorism, drug trafficking, and the theft of American assets.
In a Truth Social post, Trump announced that his administration has formally designated the Venezuelan regime a Foreign Terrorist Organization and directed U.S. forces to interdict sanctioned oil shipments tied to Caracas. He said Venezuela is now “completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America,” adding that previously announced airspace restrictions remain in effect. Trump accused the Maduro government of using oil from “stolen Oil Fields” to finance “Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,” warning that the blockade will only expand until the regime returns “all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.” Trump also tied the move to immigration enforcement, saying the “Illegal Aliens and Criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden Administration are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace,” and adding that America “will not allow Criminals, Terrorists, or other Countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our Nation.”
The announcement comes days after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the Venezuelan coast, an incident that sparked an angry response from Caracas. Maduro denounced the seizure as piracy, comparing it to “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and, moments before Trump’s statement was released, called for a coordinated international protest by oil workers. Speaking at a regime event, Maduro urged labor groups and maritime organizations to mobilize against what he called U.S. “piracy,” saying the oil working class must defend Venezuela’s right to trade its main export in international forums.
Following Trump’s order, the Maduro regime issued an official statement condemning what it called an “irrational naval blockade” and accusing Washington of attempting to steal Venezuela’s national wealth. The statement said Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations would denounce the action and urged people in the United States and abroad to “reject this extravagant threat by any means necessary.” Trump’s move marks one of the most aggressive steps yet in his renewed confrontation with Maduro, signaling a willingness to use direct military and economic pressure to choke off the oil revenue that keeps the regime afloat.
(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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