Wednesday night saw the upstart cable news network NewsNation host its first live town hall of the 2024 presidential campaign. The town hall moderated by NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas featured Democratic party candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
During the town hall, Kennedy Jr. said that the Democratic Party “has lost its way” and that Democratic voters should move on from current President Joe Biden.
“I am running because I feel like my party has lost its way” @RobertKennedyJr on why Democratic voters should vote out Biden. Watch live: https://t.co/NVKSnIBvVr #RFKTownHall pic.twitter.com/4ajwRKD5li
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When asked by Vargas, Kennedy Jr. refused to pledge support for the eventual Democratic party nominee, saying, “Oh, of course, I’m not gonna do that.”
“You’re not gonna do that?” asked Vargas, to which Kennedy responded, “No, of course.”
After Vargas pressed the candidate and questioned, “If you don’t get the nomination, you won’t support President Biden?,” Kennedy Jr. responded by saying, in part, by saying, “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
Kennedy Jr. said he intended to become the Democratic party’s nominee and that he doesn’t have a plan B when it comes to not being named the nominee.
At one point during the proceedings, Vargas asked the candidate what he thinks of ex-President Donald Trump. His response?
“I’m not going to attack other people personally,” Kennedy Jr. said. “I’m proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues, because I don’t wanna alienate people,” he told Vargas.
Later in the town hall, Kennedy Jr. said he “likes” President Biden, though he’s running against him and has no reservations about saying when he disagrees with him on various policy positions.
Kennedy Jr. also used the town hall to continue to spread misinformation regarding vaccines, prescription drugs, and 5G, among other things. His stance, especially regarding vaccines, has put him in conflict with mainstream Democratic party voters.
Kennedy Jr. has previously claimed that there are links between vaccines and autism, something that nearly all medical and scientific experts have discredited.
The town hall was not widely covered by the mainstream media. To be fair, this is still a relatively new news network featuring a still-relatively unknown candidate. Poynter’s Tom Jones complimented Vargas’ performance as moderator, and Long Island-based Newsday gave a largely positive review of the NewsNation-Kennedy Jr. town hall.
However, in the Wednesday edition of the Reliable Sources newsletter, CNN’s Oliver Darcy came down hard on the entire event, noting, “Vargas repeatedly failed to hold the conspiratorial and notorious anti-vaccine candidate accountable in a real way.” He also said that Kennedy Jr.’s “unhinged” views “were met with only minimal pushback from Vargas, who allowed herself on more than one occasion to be steamrolled by Kennedy as he peddled dangerous misinformation to the network’s audience.”
Darcy did note that audience members did ask Kennedy Jr. some tough questions.
The town hall took place in front of voters at NewsNation’s Chicago headquarters. Additionally, voters in the early party primary states of South Carolina and New Hampshire also had the opportunity to question the candidate.