Despite his longstanding affiliation with the Democratic Party and adherence to leftist viewpoints in certain topics, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has espoused opinions contrary to the prevailing left-wing narrative on several occasions in recent months.
Perhaps the most notable examples involve his stance on mandatory vaccines as well as several cultural issues.
During a CNN interview last year, Kennedy declared: “I am against people participating in women’s sports who are biologically male. I think women have worked too hard to develop women’s sports over the past 30 years … and I don’t think that’s fair.”
In the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists, he has further distanced himself from the Democratic Party by rejecting calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Responding to an interview by a Reuters reporter on the wisdom of such a demand, Kennedy replied: “I don’t even know what that means right now.”
He went on to assert that Hamas had used earlier pauses in fighting to “rebuild and then launch another surprise attack,” wondering “what would be different this time?”
Although President Joe Biden has offered lip service to Israel by conceding that it has a right to defend itself, Kennedy offered a more full-throated endorsement.
“Any other nation that was adjacent to a neighboring nation that was bombing it with rockets, sending commandos over to murder its citizens, pledging itself to murder every person in that nation and annihilate it, would go and level it with aerial bombardment,” he said. “But Israel is a moral nation. So it didn’t do that. Instead, it built an Iron Dome to protect itself so it would not have to go into Gaza.”
When Hamas staged its attack nearly six months ago, however, Kennedy determined the very same day that the act would likely force Israel’s hand.
This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 7, 2023
While a number of prominent Democrats have pushed for a ceasefire, a handful of leftists have bucked the anti-Israel trend.
Referencing the hostages who were still being held by Hamas militants last month, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said: “I don’t understand why, to anyone that is protesting or demanding for a ceasefire, let’s be honest here, why aren’t you protesting to bring them all home right now? Why aren’t you demanding that Hamas surrenders as well?”
