OKLAHOMA CITY—Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the National Sheriff’s Association that he supports Israel because “I am pro-Palestinian.”
“The worst thing to happen to the Palestinians is Hamas,” Mr. Kennedy said to approximately 1,000 law enforcement officers from around the country during their annual meeting on June 24. The crowd that gathered in the Oklahoma City Convention Center was subdued but receptive.
Mr. Kennedy also said that, as president, he would shore up the southern border and address America’s mental health crisis with “healing farms.”
He pointed out that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that doesn’t have an official religion or “apartheid-style rules.” He said the best way to help the Palestinian people is to support Israel in its campaign to eradicate Hamas.
He said Gaza has abundant natural resources and that Palestinians there have received enough humanitarian aid to become an independently wealthy nation. He said that Hamas has diverted that aid to enrich its leaders and finance its war against Israel.
“Gaza should be one of the most affluent places in the Middle East,” Mr. Kennedy said.
He said Israel has managed to remain free in large part because of secure borders; something he said the United States should also focus on.
He said that as president, he would work to close the gaps in the existing border wall, complete construction of the wall in high-traffic areas, reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers, and crack down on human traffickers.
Mr. Kennedy told the sheriffs that he had been to the southern border, where he watched military-aged men from West Africa and Asia arrive on buses owned by the Sinaloa drug cartel. He said that none of those men applied for asylum.
“They all said they were looking for jobs. They came across with total confidence knowing exactly what was going to happen to them,” he said.
He said Americans in the border town of Yuma, Arizona, are trying to deal with the influx but are overwhelmed.
“They are getting no help from the government. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy also promised to fill the positions left by border agents who became demoralized and quit.
He also promised to appoint more immigration judges and streamline the citizenship process.
“There has to be legal immigration,” he said.
Mr. Kennedy then turned to address the mental health crisis. He said his approach would be to treat those with mental health issues as patients, not criminals. He believes the rise in mental health issues—especially among young people—is tied to the changes wrought on society by technology.
He noted that the use of social media can isolate people. A key element of his mental health plan would be to open “healing farms.”
Under his plan, he would remove the federal prohibition on marijuana, tax it, and use the revenue to finance healing farms. On these farms, nonviolent offenders would grow their own food, learn skilled trades, and “basically be re-parented.”
He said the job training would instill a sense of accomplishment.
Sheriff Likes Ideas
Sheriff Tyrone Foster of Bristol, Virginia, said he had learned about Mr. Kennedy’s policies before the June 24 speech, and the candidate has ideas that other candidates might want to consider.“I think he could do a good job as president; he’s got some good ideas with his border policies and also his ideas with combating mental health [issues],” he told The Epoch Times.
“It’s always good to listen; you can learn more by listening than by talking to yourself.”
The data show that overall, former President Donald Trump is leading with 41.9 percent support, with President Joe Biden second at 39.9 percent support.
Mr. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and the founder of Children’s Health Defense. He Kennedy withdrew from the Democrat Party last October to run as an independent with a pledge to reach across political and social lines and unite Americans.
