America 2024: Robert Kennedy's son roots for Trump

It was an eccentric candidacy all along. There was not any meat in it, no policies on offer. Robert F. Kennedy Jr based his drive for the White House on two factors, neither of which helped him in the end. In the first place, he thought that the Kennedy name would still evoke nostalgia, even magic, in voters. In the second, he seriously thought that his views on the issues would gain traction with the electorate.

That the Kennedy dynasty now belongs in the past and has little wish to take centre stage was once again revealed when the Kennedy clan repudiated RFK Jr and threw its support behind the candidacy of Joe Biden. Now it will be Kamala Harris who will certainly have the support of the Kennedys behind her.

A significant part of the reason why the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy was unable to have his clan rally around his candidacy had to do with his controversial views on such contemporary topics as Covid. He was doing what Donald Trump has been doing, playing truant with reality. That was enough cause for the other Kennedys to stay away from RFK Jr.

One would have thought that having suspended his presidential ambitions, Robert F. Kennedy Jr would fall silent. He did not but went on to let Americans know that he would be supporting Trump at the November election. Why he did that is anyone's guess. It could be pique because Democrats showed no inclination toward supporting him. Or perhaps he now believes that if Trump wins the election, he might earn a place in his administration.

That RFK Jr was not a man qualified to be President came through early and clear. He had no vision to offer Americans; he had hardly any plans regarding the economy. On foreign policy his views were shrouded in silence, perhaps because his understanding of diplomacy was not there at all. An individual who in the West seeks the highest office in the land is expected to have a grasp of the issues and so inform the electorate that he or she has what it takes to be a leader.

The child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy demonstrated no such ability in his forlorn campaign for the White House. One could now suggest that perhaps in four years' time he could be running a new presidential campaign once again. There have been other politicians who in years gone by have attempted to reach high office despite their initial failures. Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller, Harold Stassen and others are a few instances which can be cited. But those individuals possessed the ability to shape clearly defined policies and offer them to voters.

RFK Jr demonstrated none of these attributes so necessary for a serious candidate for the presidency. He is seventy years old, which is not a good age to be seeking the White House (Trump is an aberration, mind you). Besides, this Kennedy, despite having posters prepared in the likeness of those of his uncle John F. Kennedy in 1960, was unable to be inspired by the late President or his father or his uncle Edward Kennedy. Senator Robert Kennedy might have gained the Democratic Party presidential nomination had he not been assassinated in 1968. His campaign offered hope to Americans who needed a change after the Lyndon Johnson years.

In 1980, Senator Edward Kennedy fought valiantly to displace President Jimmy Carter and obtain the party nomination for the White House. He failed in the attempt, but delivered an impassioned speech at the Democratic convention which remains an example of political brilliance. Edward Kennedy would go on to initiate legislation dealing with various issues and would in time earn respect as the Father of the Senate. RFK Jr has conspicuously failed to emulate this earlier generation of Kennedys. Moreover, he has not been on the same page as the other Kennedys of his generation --- his siblings and cousins.

Caroline Kennedy, only six at the time of her father's assassination in 1963, has served creditably as US ambassador to Japan under President Barack Obama. She was later appointed ambassador to Australia by President Joe Biden, where she continues to serve with distinction. Much tragedy has defined the lives of the younger generation of Kennedys. Death, instances of womanising and rape have been there for years. And yet there have been younger Kennedys who have led lives of quiet distinction, with some of them serving in the US House of Representatives and the state legislature in Massachusetts.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr has not matched the record of the younger Kennedys who have been or are in public life. His has been politics of a strange kind, which is a good reason why Donald Trump has always been favourably disposed toward him. Kennedy chose as his running mate a billionaire young woman more from the belief that she would funnel funds into his campaign than for any substance being added to his faltering presidential drive. He has been a dissident Kennedy who did not appear to appreciate the old Kennedy ethos. He has been an estranged Kennedy.

He was not, as his pointless and now aborted presidential campaign has shown, a chip off the old block. The old block was different. The other Kennedys, those dead and those alive, have always been a different kettle of fish, embroiled in controversy or subject to adulation. RFK Jr has sadly been different. He might have a future in a new Trump administration now that he expects his supporters to campaign for a Republican victory in November. That future will be in jeopardy should Kamala Harris become President. Robert F. Kennedy Jr could then end up being an irrelevance, a tiny footnote in American history.

[email protected]