Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on CNN for an interview where he argued that President Biden posed a greater threat to democracy than Donald Trump.
When asked if Trump trying to overturn the 2020 election was as serious a threat as Biden, Kennedy said Biden was worse due to being the first president to use federal agencies to censor political speech and opponents.
“A moment ago you said you essentially see Trump and Biden as the same, different issues. But do you really believe that? When people talk about the threat to democracy that Trump poses, do you really think that that is an equal evil to Biden?” CNN’s Erin Burnett asked.
“Listen, I can make the argument that President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy. And the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech or censor his opponent,” Kennedy said.
“The greatest threat to democracy is not someone who questions election returns,” he added, “but a president of the United States who will use the power of his office to force the social media companies — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter — to open a portal and give access to that portal to the FBI, to the CIA, to the IRA, the sites, the NIH to censor his political critics as implied for the first, first president in history, to use his power over the Secret Service to deny Secret Service protection to one of his political opponents. For political reasons, he’s weaponizing a federal agency. Those are really critical threats.”
“Donald Trump, of course, tried to overturn a free and fair election. … How is that not a threat to democracy?” Burnett asked.
“The question was who is a worse threat to democracy?” Kennedy asked.
“I’m not going to answer that question, but I can argue that President Biden has, because the First Amendment, Erin, is the most important,” Kennedy said.
His comments sparked outrage from Biden supporters, with some accusing CNN of failing its viewers by airing Kennedy’s “lies and conspiracy theories” without pushback.
Others claimed Kennedy was working to help Trump get elected.
Kennedy refused to back down from his assessment that Biden posed a larger threat to free speech, eliciting panic from those worried it could cost Biden votes for Trump or another candidate in 2024.
The interview highlighted tensions around free speech, with critics arguing Kennedy should not have been given a platform to express views counter to Biden without challenge.
“Good grief. CNN just gave RFK Jr. a national platform & threw easy, softball questions at home with no pushback when he answered with lies & conspiracy theories. They should’ve cut the interview, but they didn’t. CNN continues failing its viewers & our democracy,” one X user wrote.
“Holy crap. RFK Jr. just tried to argue on CNN that Biden is a bigger threat to democracy than Trump is. This is further proof that RFK Jr. is in this race to help Trump get elected. He’s making points that are absurd to assist MAGA. Do not support him,” another wrote.
