Karl Rove brings whiteboard to Fox News to explain that RFK Jr is a ‘nut’
Veteran GOP operative says it would be ‘nutty’ to put RFK Jr in charge of health agencies
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Republican strategist Karl Rove used whiteboards to illustrate Robert F Kennedy’s conspiracy theories during a bizarre Fox News interview on Thursday.
After Florida governor Ron DeSantis said he would be prepared to “sic” RFK Jr onto the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mr Rove told Fox host Bill Hemmer it was a “nutty idea”.
Using two whiteboards with bullet points featuring RFK Jr’s past statements on vaccines, election interference and the Ukraine war, Mr Rove ripped into the Democratic presidential candidate.
“He has incredible conspiracy theories that are just outrageous,” Mr Rove, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush, said.
He slammed RFK Jr’s false claims that vaccines cause autism.
“We haven’t used mercury since 2001 in children’s vaccines. It was never used in the three most common vaccines for children. And no scientific evidence supports this theory.”
He went on to list RFK Jr’s unhinged claims that AIDs isn’t caused by HIV, Wi-Fi causes “leaky brains”, and chemicals in water are making children transgender.
He went on to list RFK Jr’s previous assertions that 5G was a mass surveillance tool, the CIA had killed JFK, and the 2004 election was stolen after computers switched nearly a quarter million votes from John Kerry to George Bush in Ohio.
“This is just nutty stuff. It is not just healthcare that Robert Kennedy is a conspiracy buff on,” Mr Rove added.
Fox has been accused of aggressively pushing Mr Kennedy’s candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in the hopes of harming President Joe Biden’s election hopes.
Sean Hannity hosted a primetime town hall event with Mr Kennedy this week, and he’s been receiving more attention on the right-wing news network than many Republican candidates.
And true to form, the Fox host pushed back against Mr Rove, saying that the anti-vaccine conspiracist was “a different kind of Democrat, the kind of Democrat that you and I grew up with”.
Mr Hemmer asked the veteran GOP consultant what was wrong with a Mr DeSantis offering to work with a Democrat.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Mr Rove replied. “In this particular instance, putting Robert Kennedy in charge of the Center for Disease Control or the Food and Drug Administration is a nutty idea.”
RFK Jr has denied he is a conspiracy theorist, and is merely floating possibilities that required further investigation.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments