President Joe Biden’s campaign applauded the news that a Manhattan jury convicted former President Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a drastically different response.
Mr. Kennedy has faced escalating criticism from President Trump in recent weeks as multiple national polls indicate that the independent presidential candidate is drawing support from conservates and independents, potentially cutting into the former president’s backing.
In the immediate aftermath of the May 30 verdict, though, he chastised the legal decision and accused the Democratic Party of attempting to defeat President Trump in the courtroom and not the ballot box.
“This will backfire in November. Even worse, it is profoundly undemocratic,” Mr. Kennedy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“America deserves a president who can win at the ballot box without compromising our government’s separation of powers or weaponizing the courts. You can’t save democracy by destroying it first,” Mr. Kennedy added.
Michael Tyler, communications director for Biden-Harris 2024, released a statement on May 30 saying, “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.”
“Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president,” Mr. Tyler added.
Earlier this year, Mr. Kennedy took to X and condemned the lawsuits designed to keep President Trump off the ballot in multiple states under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
“Why doesn’t every American understand that if they can do this to a former US President, EVERYONE is vulnerable to punishment for crimes with which they have never been convicted,” Mr. Kennedy wrote.
In another post on the platform, Mr. Kennedy wrote: “If Trump is kept out of office through judicial fiat rather than being defeated in a fair election, his supporters will never accept the result. This country will become ungovernable.
“I’m not a fan of Trump, but I want the American people to decide who represents them, and I want to win on a level playing field and in a fair fight, not by a judicial intervention coming in and getting rid of people they don’t like.”
Since the beginning of his campaign, Mr. Kennedy has adamantly refused to discuss President Trump’s court cases, social media conduct, and personality. All are issues that critics frequently use to chastise the former president.
Instead, Mr. Kennedy has repeatedly denounced President Trump’s actions during his term.
He has said that President Trump intended to “drain the swamp” when he took office in 2017, but he was “intimidated by bureaucrats” at federal agencies and did not accomplish that objective.
John Bolton, who President Trump appointed as a national security adviser, is “the template for a swamp creature,” Mr. Kennedy said. Scott Gottlieb, who President Trump named to run the FDA, “was Pfizer’s business partner” and eventually returned to Pfizer “to collect his payoff,” Mr. Kennedy said.
Mr. Kennedy said that President Trump had more lobbyists running federal agencies than any president in U.S. history.
“You can’t reform them when you’ve got the swamp creatures running them, and I’m not going to do that. I’m going to do something different,” Mr. Kennedy said.
At a campaign stop earlier this year, Mr. Kennedy remarked that he has known President Trump for around 40 years.
“I’ve sued him twice, successfully. During litigation, he invited me on his airplane and we had a great time,” he said.
“He’s a very congenial, charming guy, and he’s always been very kind to me. He’s been a big political donor to my family at various times. I stay away from the vitriol but Donald Trump as president was the architect of the COVID policies, which were destructive for the economy of our country,” Mr. Kennedy added.
President Trump “knew that lockdowns were wrong” and then “agreed to lockdowns,” Mr. Kennedy said. He also “knew that hydroxychloroquine worked, he said it,” Mr. Kennedy explained, adding that he was eventually “rolled over” by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his advisers.
President Trump’s defense of Operation Warp Speed, the program he rolled out in May 2020 to spur the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines amid the pandemic, remains a sticking point for some of his supporters. Some of these supporters now say they will vote for Mr. Kennedy in 2024.
In his May 30 post on X, Mr. Kennedy reinforced his criticism of President Trump about COVID and other policies.
“I’m also running against President Trump in this election. The difference is I’m challenging him on his record. His lockdowns during COVID. His atrocious environmental record. His cozy relationship with corporate America. His support for the war machine. His bloating of the national debt,” Mr. Kennedy noted.
“These are the issues that shape American lives. I’ll challenge him on these things, but the Democrats won’t. You know why? Because they pursue the very same policies.”
