Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thought he was making another campaign stop while he was in Atlanta in January. Instead, the independent presidential candidate found himself in a recording studio contributing to a rap song related to his campaign.
That song, “Standing on Bidness,” was released during a Spaces session on the social media platform X on March 3.
The track is a collaboration among Mr. Kennedy, iconic rappers Boosie, Drumma Boy, Hot Boy Turk, and Jazza Pha, and Angela Stanton-King. Ms. Stanton-King, who works for Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, is the goddaughter of Alveda King, who is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece.
Mr. Kennedy opens the song by saying: “I’m Robert F. Kennedy Jr. You don’t have to believe the lies, you don’t have to take sides. You can help me heal the divide. As president of the United States, I’ll be standing on bidness, and helping the community.”
On X Spaces, Ms. Stanton-King praised Mr. Kennedy for being “such an awesome sport throughout the whole process, not knowing how any of this was going to go.”
“Bobby was just told that he was coming to Atlanta for an event, and the next thing Bobby knows, I’ve got him at Patchwerk Studios, right in the middle of a recording session with a bunch of rappers,” she said.
“I was tone deaf even before I lost my voice,“ Mr. Kennedy told listeners with a laugh on X Spaces. ”I think that was the most terrifying moment of my life.”
The rap song is the most recent example of how Mr. Kennedy’s campaign is reaching voters with alternative strategies designed to combat what he calls censorship and misinformation about him from mainstream media and critics who call him a “conspiracy theorist” and an “anti-vaxxer.”
Mr. Kennedy entered the Democrat primary in April 2023 but announced on Oct. 9, 2023, that he would run as an independent after he said the Democratic National Committee was “rigging the primary” and “making it impossible” for any candidate to fairly challenge President Joe Biden.
Mr. Kennedy has led all presidential candidates in favorability ratings in multiple national polls. Late last month, the same week that his campaign said it had collected enough signatures to appear on Hawaii’s general election ballot, a super PAC working to get him elected president said it had met signature requirements for Mr. Kennedy to appear on the ballot in Arizona and Georgia.
In a New York Times/Siena College survey released last October, Mr. Kennedy received 26 percent support in Arizona while President Biden and former President Donald Trump received 33 percent each.
The poll found that Mr. Kennedy had 24 percent backing in Georgia compared with 36 percent for President Trump and 29 percent for President Biden.
American Values 2024 reported last December that it would spend about $15 million to help him get on the ballot in multiple states deemed important to winning the presidential election.
Mr. Kennedy is on the ballot in Utah, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Arizona, and Georgia. His campaign has what the candidate calls “a volunteer army” of about 80,000 people collecting signatures across the country. American Values 2024 said it’s focusing on Michigan, South Carolina, Maryland, California, West Virginia, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts.
Mr. Kennedy has frequently told The Epoch Times that he will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and that he will face obstacles from the Democrat and Republican parties.
He has also said that censorship and misinformation about his past and his platform are hurdles that he must overcome in his bid to become president. That’s why he travels around the country holding “voter rallies,” appears on as many podcasts as his schedule allows, and hosts fundraising contests that allow supporters the chance to join him in activities such as falconry and sailing. He also participated in a recently released documentary.
“The Real RFK Jr.,” which offers a view into Mr. Kennedy’s life, is based on the 2023 New York Times bestselling biography by Dick Russell.
“The documentary highlights RFK Jr.’s struggles with addiction, celebrates his 40 years of sobriety, and follows his journey in becoming an influential advocate for various causes,” a statement reads.
“By moving beyond the public perception, our aim is to unveil the genuine character of a man born into a lineage of prominent leaders but who stands out for the earnest qualities that have long been the hallmark of the Kennedy family,” says Jeff Hays, producer of the documentary.
At multiple campaign stops, Mr. Kennedy has talked about ballot access challenges he faces as an independent that don’t affect Democrats or Republicans.
Mr. Kennedy is an environmental attorney whose uncle, President John F. Kennedy, was shot and killed on Nov. 22, 1963, during a campaign stop in Dallas. His father, Robert F. Kennedy, was shot and killed while running for president in 1968.
He is the founder of Children’s Health Defense and is a vaccine safety advocate who is outspoken about the COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic lockdowns. His stance on issues has drawn the ire of many Democrats and mainstream media outlets.
“If the only source of information that you have is MSNBC, CNN, and The New York Times, I would have a very low opinion of myself, too, because you’re not going to hear anything good about me. You’re going to hear a lot of defamation, a lot of things that just aren’t true,” Mr. Kennedy said at a voter rally in Columbia, South Carolina.
“What we find is that when we can convince those people to watch podcasts and those long-form interviews, that they have very high and very quick conversion rates. People say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t have horns, and he actually sounds like he has common sense.’”
