This week the campaign of increasingly unhinged presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appallingly referred to January 6 insurrectionists as “activists.” As reported by the Washington Post, RFK Jr.’s campaign sent out an email on Wednesday stating that those facing charges in the J6 Capitol riot are “activists sitting in a Washington DC jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties.” Huh?
It’s unclear which Jan. 6 defendants Kennedy’s campaign is referring to — very few of them are in the D.C. jail, where a small percentage await trial, sentencing or transfer to a federal prison to serve out their sentences. Despite complaints from some far-right lawmakers, no court has found that the detention violated their rights.
I find it more than a little bit interesting that RFK Jr. is parroting the language of far-right lawmakers regarding January 6. WaPo notes that the naming of the defendants as “activists” echoes Donald Trump’s decision to align himself with the Jan. 6 rioters.
The RFK Jr. campaign quickly walked back the comment, blaming the “error” on a new contractor who the campaign later said has since been terminated. But as WaPo notes, “Kennedy himself has previously downplayed the Jan. 6 attack and said he is open to pardoning convicted rioters.”
For example, RFK Jr. previously told WaPo that he would consider pardoning those convicted of their role in the J6 insurrection. “If prosecutorial malfeasance is demonstrated, then yes,” he said. “Otherwise, no.” There has been exactly zero evidence of any prosecutorial malfeasance in holding the J6 insurrectionists accountable for their crimes. In fact, many people (myself included) have complained about the long track record of prosecutorial lenience being shows to the J6 criminals. This is just a red herring that RFK Jr. is throwing out there as red meat for the wingnuts.
Another example: in an interview with Politico’s David Freedlander, RFK Jr. referred to the J6 insurrection as merely “an attack on a building.” Actually, the J6 riots were an attempt to use violence to overturn the results of a free and fair election and to attack and even murder certain governmental representatives. It was NOT merely an attack on a building.
“What do you think is more dangerous,” RFK Jr. asked Freedlander. “The censorship by the government of Americans who disagree with its policies or Jan. 6?” This was a blatant attempt by RFK Jr. to equate the prosecution of J6 insurrectionists with trying to censor people for expressing views protected by the First Amendment. But as U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth noted in sentencing one rioter this week, the Capitol attack “was neither First Amendment-protected activity nor civil disobedience … because it was violent, not peaceful; opportunistic, not principled; coercive, not persuasive; and selfish, not patriotic.”
RFK Jr. is clearly making an appalling attempt to “both sides” the January 6 insurrection in a desperate and spineless attempt to attract support, spreading disinformation about January 6 in the process. One can only assume that he’s trying to peel off Trump supporters with these tactics or to downplay January 6 to make it falsely appear that there is no difference between Trump and Biden when it comes to protecting our democracy. The former is a fool’s errand, that latter is dangerous and irresponsible.