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Kennedy wants more marks for his anti-vaccination grift — he'll find way more of them by marketing to MAGA
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RFK is now openly gunning for Trump voters — and Republicans are starting to worry
Kennedy wants more marks for his anti-vaccination grift — he'll find way more of them by marketing to MAGA
"The Wuhan Cover-Up" blares the subject line of a recent presidential campaign email. Inside, it's all impenetrable conspiracy theory language that reads more like a QAnon post than a normal political fundraiser:
Why wasn’t Dr. Anthony Fauci charged with a crime, when he lied under oath about his relationships with Peter Daszak and Ralph Baric in order to cover-up Wuhan Coronavirus research? Apparently, lying under oath is only a crime when it contradicts established narratives.
Zombie COVID-19 conspiracy theories? False and defamatory accusations? QAnon-style rhetoric designed to overwhelm and bamboozle the reader? These abusive tactics are all the red flags of MAGA communication. To be certain, fundraising emails across the partisan spectrum can be alarmist and hyperbolic, but accusing innocent people of crimes and spreading lies about deadly diseases are lines most candidates don't cross. The exception, of course, is Donald Trump and his imitators, like Arizona Republican Kari Lake, who's now running for Senate after losing the gubernatorial race in 2022. But outside of the MAGA universe, such tactics are frowned upon for two reasons. One, it's downright evil. Two, it wouldn't work on voters who are outside of the MAGA bubble, as normal people tend to be turned off by slander and overt disinformation.
But curiously this email did not come from Trump or Lake or any other figures associated with the ethics-free world of MAGA campaigning. It came, readers may not be surprised to learn, from the campaign of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate. The conventional wisdom in Washington has long been that Kennedy is running a spoiler campaign against President Joe Biden, trying to siphon off enough Democratic votes that Donald Trump wins the election. After all, Kennedy used to be a Democrat and his name is so famous his family had to hold a presser disavowing his candidacy.
This email, however, seems squarely aimed at would-be Trump voters, the only people so soaked in pandemic paranoia and conspiracy theories that any of this would even make sense to them. It's a weird choice for someone trying to undermine Biden's chances! It makes sense, however, if we assume that Kennedy's main priority with his fake run for president is not to spoil the race, but to draw attention and recruit new marks for his longstanding anti-vaccination grift. If you're looking for gullible people who will give you money to lie to them, you will be far more successful appealing to Trump voters than Biden voters. . .
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