Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s defection to Donald Trump and the Republicans comes after years of criticism the former Democrat laid at Trump's feet.
Kennedy, whom Trump has nominated to be the next U.S. health secretary, has previously called the president-elect a "bully" and a "terrible president" and described his early political rise as "scary."
In a video that was widely shared online this week, amid widespread discussion of Trump's cabinet picks, commentators claimed that Kennedy had disparaged Trump's supporters too, saying he called them "belligerent idiots," "outright Nazis," and "bootlickers."
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user Republicans against Trump, posted on November 21, 2024, viewed 3.9 million times, said: "[siren emoji] CNN has uncovered an audio in which RFK Jr scorched Trump and his supporters, calling them "belligerent idiots," "outright Nazis," "cowards," and "bootlickers."
The post included audio in which Kennedy said: "One of the things that you write so beautifully, and your stuff is so fun to read, but you write about Trump, quote, 'The way that you build a truly vicious nationalist movement is to wed a relatively small core of belligerent idiots to a much larger group of opportunists and spineless fellow travelers whose primary function is to turn a blind eye to things.'"
The Facts
CNN did not report that Kennedy said those words about Trump supporters himself, and Kennedy did not do so either.
CNN reported earlier this week that the recording was taken from a March 2016 episode of the Ring of Fire radio show, during which Kennedy praisingly repeated the words of journalist Matt Taibbi.
"'We may not have that many outright Nazis in America, but we have plenty of cowards and bootlickers, and once those fleshy dominoes start tumbling into the Trump camp, the game is up,'" Kennedy quoted.
As was said in the clip, Kennedy doesn't resist or challenge Taibbi's words, calling them "beautifully" written and "fun to read."
The passage itself doesn't outright call Trump supporters "belligerent idiots" but strongly connects them to that insult. Importantly, these weren't Kennedy's words, although his praise of the passage suggests he, at the very least, sympathized with its sentiment.
"Like many Americans, I allowed myself to believe the mainstream media's distorted, dystopian portrait of President Trump," Kennedy said in a statement sent to Newsweek by the Trump-Vance transition team.
"I no longer hold this belief and now regret having made those statements. President Trump has a tremendous vision for our country that will not only make our country healthy again but will lower the cost of living for all Americans, stop endless wars, protect free speech, secure our Southern border, and make our country great again.
"I am proud to serve in President Trump's administration."
As reported in October 2024 by The New York Times, Kennedy has ridiculed Trump for many years, including during his run as a candidate in the 2024 race, calling him a "terrible president" who would not be "capable of meeting the expectations and fulfilling the promises that he raises with his rhetoric."
In a Newsweek op-ed from 2018, Kennedy, who was a Democrat at the time, said that Trump's "presidency has not just discredited our nation, but the entire American experiment in self government."
Trump was not kind to Kennedy prior to his dropping out of the 2024 race, either. Kennedy ran against Trump as a Democrat, then an independent, before ending his campaign in August and endorsing the president-elect.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social in late May, Trump called Kennedy "one of the most Liberal Lunatics ever to run for office," adding that he is "a Phony Radical Left fool whose poll numbers are TERRIBLE, and getting worse."
The Ruling
Needs Context.
According to a CNN report, the audio recording of RFK Jr. is from 2016 and was of Kennedy reading a passage written by journalist Matt Taibbi. While these weren't his words, Kennedy repeated them in praise.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
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