Live updates: Town hall with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Here’s what one voter in South Carolina had to say about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s performance at the town hall:

Some final thoughts on the night:

1. This is why hearing directly from candidates is so important. Elizabeth Vargas’ parting message was spot on.

2. Will Robert F. Kennedy Jr. further build out his plan on the economy over the next six months? It is the issue for voters right now, and his answers tonight largely centered around lowering interest rates and ending wars.

3. It will be interesting to see how or if President Biden and his team choose to engage Kennedy. Still, a roughly 50-point lead in the primary and, for now, POTUS is focused on the general.

4. See you on The Hill tomorrow to continue the 2024 discussion!

Here is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on supporting the Democratic nominee if it isn’t him: “My plan is to win this election.”

Here is Robert F. Kennedy discussing Hunter Biden’s past substance abuse: “Addiction is a tragedy. … It’s really difficult to deal with.”

Writing this as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. answers the final question about bringing the nation together.

Compelling viewing, but I’m not sure how it expands Kennedy’s support beyond the meaningful but modest level it is currently at.

Kennedy did actually sound like a Democrat, sometimes— which is not always the case. His defense of LGBT rights when asked a question about Moms for Liberty toward the end of the event was striking.

But his views on vaccines and Russia— as well as his disinclination to more forcefully criticize former President Trump — almost certainly put a ceiling on his support in a Democratic primary.

There is a market for his views — but it’s a niche market, not one that really threatens an incumbent president in the battle for the Democratic nomination.

It took about 75 minutes, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave an answer that would receive support throughout the Democratic party: He says he would sign an assault weapons ban if that legislation was put before him.

James F.M. Williams in South Carolina asks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. why he accepted, and then withdrew, an invitation to speak at an event hosted by Moms for Liberty. Kennedy says he was “unaware” that a staff member accepted the invite.

The answer was unacceptable to Williams, a former Congressional staffer.

“Anybody who is elected blames staff, that’s the wrong answer,” Williams said. “You have to take responsibility for agreeing to speak before those groups.”

Kennedy says there will be nobody in the Oval Office who is more supportive of LGBTQ rights than him.

A key moment here, rooted in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s views on vaccines but also explains his much wider views.

Pushing back against his vaccine views, Elizabeth Vargas said, “You’re a lawyer and an activist. You’re not a doctor or a scientist.”

Kennedy’s response: “We live in a democracy. We don’t have a priesthood here…We’re in charge of our own lives.”

That worldview clearly gets traction, especially in a United States that has just come through the national collective trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The nation has also experienced at least two seismic events in the past couple of decades where “the experts” were catastrophically wrong — the Iraq War, when Saddam Hussein was said to have weapons of mass destruction, and didn’t; and the financial crisis, where the banks were supposed to be safe, and weren’t.

But the dangers in Kennedy’s worldview is just as obvious — it places someone who has watched a few YouTube videos on COVID-19 on the same footing as, say, Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose expertise is summarized here: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/anthony-s-fauci-md-bio

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Americans should explore options outside of gun control in order to reduce gun violence in the U.S.

“I do not believe that within that Second Amendment that there is anything we can meaningfully do to reduce the trade and the ownership of guns.”

“Anybody who tells you that they’re going to reduce gun violence through gun control at this point, I don’t think is being realistic,” Kennedy said. “I think we have to think about other ways to reduce that violence.”

This is a pretty big break with most Democrats who tend to champion gun control. Kennedy is trying to strike a unifying tone on the topic, saying he wants to bring Americans together on this issue.

Expanding on his vaccine stance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the Food and Drug Administration can’t be trusted when it gives regulatory approval. “We have a corrupt federal agency,” Kennedy says, claiming the agency and other medical organizations are “controlled by pharma.”

In the past, Kennedy has pledged to gut the FDA if elected.

Folks here in Manchester who are a part of our remote studio audience at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics have been chatting away during the breaks about what they think of the conversation between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elizabeth Vargas.

One man made the comment, “He doesn’t sound like a Democrat.”

A woman chimed in and said “I like that he’s so honest.” Multiple people in the group murmured in agreement to that statement.

Another added, “I was surprised to hear about his story of addiction.”

There’s an appetite to hear about his stances on all the key issues of the 2024 race.

Inevitably, we are now into an examination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s record on vaccines — a record that is enormously controversial and has drawn protests from members of his own family, among others.

Kennedy has repeatedly asserted a link between vaccines and mental disorders, especially autism. That allegation has been repeatedly debunked.

A 2005 story he wrote on the topic, which was co-published by Rolling Stone and Salon, had to have a total of five corrections appended before it was retracted entirely.

A CBS News report from 2011 noted a central part of Kennedy’s thesis was that there was a “real” link between thimerosal and “the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders.”

But, CBS’s Jim Edwards added: “(S)ince The Lancet retracted the original piece of research that made that link, and since the British Medical Journal then revealed that the study wasn’t merely a mistake but an outright fraud, the entire notion that vaccination and autism are somehow linked has been thoroughly debunked.”

I get that people will think praise for a NewsNation moderator on a NewsNation live blog is automatically biased — but Elizabeth Vargas has done a really excellent job tonight.

She has been great at holding Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to account, firmly but respectfully, on topics like his positions from Ukraine to immigration.

For example, regarding his promise to “seal” the southern border:

Vargas: How would you seal the border?

Kennedy: It’s not that hard.

Vargas: But how would you do it?

Kennedy: I would do… There’s a number of things that you have to do.

But it’s not just a matter of interrogative questioning.

The exchange Vargas and Kennedy just had on how, as she put it, Hunter Biden’s addiction issues have been “bandied about” and “weaponized” was thoughtful and sensitive on a very difficult topic.

Vargas noted she wasn’t defending Biden’s behavior and Kennedy, for his part, noted that he was not going to “compound whatever problems” the younger Biden has by “sitting in judgment.”

Here is Robert F. Kennedy discussing his ways to cut costs in the federal government.

“I wish him and his family the best,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said when asked about the coverage of the president’s son’s substance misuse issues.

Kennedy notes he wants to deescalate political rhetoric when pressed on how Hunter Biden’s addiction has been covered in the press and addressed by political figures.

“We need to start figuring out how to talk with Americans with whom we disagree,” Kennedy told Vargas.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strikes a personal tone talking about his battles with addiction.

He notes — as has been publicly known before — that he was an addict for 14 years.

Kennedy says he still goes to “probably nine meetings a week” in recovery.

He then segues from the personal to the political, noting he would decriminalize marijuana and “make safe banking laws for people who are selling it.”

But he adds that he would tax the consequent income federally and “use that money to build these healing centers in rural areas” for those struggling with addiction.

Josue Pasillas, the son of a Mexican immigrant, asks Robert F. Kennedy Jr. how he plans to address immigration. Kennedy says it won’t be possible for Congress to pass immigration reform before the U.S. can “seal the border.” He discusses a recent trip to the border, where he says he witnessed “hundreds and hundreds” of people coming across, mostly men from Africa.

Kennedy signaled support for more infrastructure and technology at the border, including more segments of a physical wall and sensors in areas where a wall isn’t feasible.

“Immigration is good for our country, but this kind of immigration is unfair to everybody,” Kennedy says.

Here’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discussing the state of America’s foreign policy.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has emphasized to us on the campaign trail he’s not interested in a cabinet position or to just bring attention to a series of issues. He’s in this race to win.

The path he sees is through the middle, through moderate voters. In this world of polarization and appealing to bases on either side of the aisle, Kennedy has consistently made appeals at his events to certain groups of voters such as “homeless Republicans” and “FDR Democrats.” He cites polling data which suggests there is an appetite in both parties for someone other than President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump to reside in the White House.

The issue is many states have “closed primaries,” which means independent and unaffiliated voters don’t have a say in who will represent their party atop the ticket. Only Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary, and only Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary.

The state of New Hampshire, however, allows unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in the state’s primary. Unaffiliated voters make up a plurality in The Granite State — more than 40%. That’s where he sees an opportunity.

Add to the fact there’s a possibility President Biden will not appear on the ballot if New Hampshire ignores the DNC’s newly released schedule and holds its primary before South Carolina, it’s no surprise Kennedy spent so much time in the state last week.

Here’s Robert F. Kennedy discussing the state of the Democratic Party.

RFK Jr asked about reducing inflation and immediately talked about the harm of raising interest rates. Remember: The Fed is raising rates to try to bring inflation down. Inflation is dropping, but nowhere near the Fed’s target area of 2% annually. Fed Chair Jay Powell today suggested rates will rise another .5 % later this year.

George Cahill, a home builder, wants to know how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. intends to lower inflation. Kennedy says the current method of raising interests is doing “tremendous damage” to the economy. “We’ve sandbagged Americans,” he said.

To tackle inflation, Kennedy says he’ll “wind down the American empire,” citing the millions spent on the war in Iraq. Redirected by Vargas, Kennedy says the U.S. needs to stop spending money on things it can’t afford, including wars. “We’re not going to end (inflation) overnight, but we’ve got to stop (spending).”

Asked by Elizabeth Vargas whether he will “pledge to support whoever the Democratic nominee is,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responds, “Oh, of course I’m not gonna do that.”

That seems unlikely to endear him to Democratic voters, even those who don’t thrill to the idea of a second Biden term.

My “plan is to win this election and I don’t have a Plan B,” Kennedy says.

That draws laughter — not, to my ears, of the supportive kind — from the crowd in our Chicago studio.

Elizabeth Vargas asks Kennedy what he thinks of former President Trump:

“I’m not going to attack other people personally,” he responds.

That’s all very well — but it is likely to deepen Democratic voters’ concerns over the issue that animated Elizabeth’s question: Is Kennedy really a Democrat?

His views on the war in Ukraine, vaccines, the COVID pandemic and guns — among other things — are out of step with most Democratic voters.

Deepening Democratic suspicion, Kennedy’s candidacy has received a conspicuously warm welcome from controversial Republicans, including former President Trump — as Elizabeth noted.

Trump has called Kennedy “a common sense guy.”

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has seemed enthused about Kennedy’s prospects:

Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon had reportedly been encouraging Kennedy to run “for months” before he did so.

Trump ally and longtime mischief-maker Roger Stone has floated the idea of a Trump-Kennedy presidential ticket.

With friends like those, it’s hardly surprising many Democrats have their doubts.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes multiple references to his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, in his answer about Russia. I’m not sure how well that translates, considering there are multiple generations of voters who do not know what Kennedy’s presidency was like firsthand. Not to mention, JFK is not on the ballot.

Elizabeth Vargas describes Russian President Vladimir Putin, correctly, as an “autocrat” and asks Kennedy why it would not encourage other autocrats if “you award him part of Ukraine” to resolve the conflict.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives a somewhat convoluted answer about President Kennedy, Vietnam and the Cuban Missile Crisis, before asserting that the U.S. has committed “a series of provocations” toward Russia.

“They have a legitimate concern about us moving NATO into the Ukraine,” he says.

Vargas: “You seem to be out of step with Democratic voters”

Kennedy: “If every Democrat is against me on that, I’m still going to say it.”

These are the kinds of views that enthuse votes on the far-left regarding Kennedy’s candidacy. But, in an Economist/YouGov poll released this week, a tiny 9% of Democrats wanted to reduce military aid to Ukraine. Thirty percent of independents and 41% of Republicans favored the same position.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says Russia has “legitimate concern” about NATO trying to push further east into Europe by allowing Ukraine to join the military organization. “We have to be able to put ourselves in their position,” he says.

The first question for RFK Jr. comes from Tiani Coleman in New Hampshire, who asks Kennedy whether he really believes Russia has “acted in good faith” toward trying to resolve the Ukraine war.

“That is a bit of a misstatement,” says Kennedy — but he goes on to claim that there was some framework of a peace agreement at an earlier stage, and claims that then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was “dispatched by the White House to sabotage that agreement.”

Let the controversy commence.

Kennedy noted he is sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and says Putin invaded the country illegally, but criticizes the role of the U.S. in the conflict.

“We have neglected many, many opportunities to settle this war peacefully,” Kennedy said. “We have turned that nation into a proxy war between Russia and the United States.”

This is notable because one of Biden’s major strengths is foreign policy. It’s not necessarily a top priority for voters, but it’s a way for Kennedy to hit Biden.