Donald Trump's embrace of RFK Jr. exposes the campaign's QAnon strategy

Donald Trump's embrace of RFK Jr. exposes the campaign's QAnon strategy
The old MAGA conspiracy theory is still around — and may still be sucking in people who otherwise would hate Trump

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published August 28, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Is Donald Trump wishing he could replace Sen. JD Vance of Ohio with Robert Kennedy Jr. as his running mate?

The question jumped from the world of social media jokes to a serious inquiry on Monday, when the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and former presidential candidate told Tucker Carlson that he's been hired to "pick the people who will be running the government" if Trump gets elected in November. Since Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, the GOP candidate has fully embraced the black sheep of the famously Democratic clan. Trump used to sneer that Kennedy was a "Radical Left Democrat," which is false, and that he's the "dumbest member" of the Kennedy clan, which is fair enough. After Kennedy endorsed him, however, Trump hugged Kennedy and declared, "He's a great guy, respected by everybody." (Fact check: Kennedy isn't even respected by his family members, who are blanketing the airwaves to say his behavior is "obscene" and a betrayal of his father, who was assassinated in 1968.)

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Trump has a stench of desperation to him, as Harris rises in the polls. Still, it's not initially clear what an alliance with Kennedy does for Trump. Although he and Vance keep insisting they're "normal" and "not weird," here they are, lavishing attention on a man who claimed he has a brain worm and who once dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park. The choice is yet another indicator of how much the Trump campaign's strategy depends on appealing to fringe constituencies in hopes that they turn out just enough creeps and conspiracy theorists to eke out a win in the swing states.

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"Trump’s alliance with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems to be part of a pattern of Trump and his allies associating with those who spread conspiracy theories," Alex Kaplan of the Media Matters told Salon. "Trump has increasingly amplified accounts that have promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, doing so hundreds of times, and some of his advisors and associates have connected with those conspiracy theorists as well. It also speaks to how some conspiracy theory movements, like RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine movement, the election denial movement, and the QAnon community, are now working more closely together.” ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/08/28/donald-embrace-of-rfk-jr-exposes-the-campaigns-qanon-strategy/