Former President Donald J. Trump refused to accept his loss in the 2020 election, painting his supporters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 like martyrs, and saying he would have lost if he lost. He laid the groundwork for denying the 2024 election results if that were the case, and said he would do so. If he wins, he will become dictator on his first day in office.
But President Biden poses a greater threat to American democracy, according to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy and Trump himself share this view, which democracy experts have called “absurd” and “absurd.” That’s ridiculous. ”
Such views are possible as Kennedy, who has built his political career on spreading vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories about the government, comes as the Biden administration seeks to curb the spread of misinformation. This is because we consider these efforts to be an important issue of our time. What he calls “censorship” overwhelms all other concerns about the political system.
“Listen, you could argue that President Biden is a much more serious threat to democracy because he’s the leading candidate for president,” Kennedy said in an interview with CNN this week. His statement has drawn new attention to his position. He is the first president in history to use federal agencies to censor political speech and opponents. ” He repeated his own remarks on Fox News on Tuesday, saying presidents like Biden are “a real threat to our democracy.”
The remarks by Mr. Kennedy, who bears his name but is not backed by a storied Democratic pedigree, were an escalation of attacks on Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party — and Mr. Kennedy quickly recanted, reporting on NewsNation’s He said this in an interview with Chris Cuomo. On Tuesday night, he said he had been misunderstood. “What I said was, you can make this argument. I didn’t say explicitly which one I believe is more dangerous to democracy. I don’t think either one is destructive to democracy. said.”
For years, Mr. Kennedy has argued that the government’s engagement with media companies and tech platforms to prevent the spread of disinformation, illegal material, or, in Mr. Kennedy’s case, his and his allies’ anti-vaccine advocacy, is illegal censorship. I have said that it is equivalent to That argument was met with skepticism at the Supreme Court last month.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who was a Democrat until last fall, took his anger directly at Democratic leaders in interviews with CNN and Fox News. Democratic leaders are concerned that Mr. Kennedy could flip a close election in November to Mr. Kennedy. .Trump.
Democratic officials, worried that Kennedy’s presence on ballots in battleground states could siphon votes from Biden, are dedicating more resources to a multifaceted effort to undermine Kennedy’s campaign. We are investing.
At the same time, Kennedy is also popular among Republicans, independents, and libertarians who are dissatisfied with some of his anti-establishment messages, so he may draw more votes from Biden than from Trump. It remains unclear. A recent Fox News poll showed Mr. Kennedy receiving roughly equal support from both candidates, and Mr. Trump last week expressed his nervousness about Mr. Kennedy’s candidacy, saying that Mr. They attacked him as a “radical leftist” candidate.
Kennedy has often compared Biden and Trump on the campaign trail. In announcing his running mate last week, Silicon Valley lawyer Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy said that to young Americans, Biden and Trump “seem like two sides of the same coin.”
However, several scholars who study democratic governments and their path back suggest that social media moderation, which the Supreme Court would be more likely to uphold as a legitimate goal for governments, is more important than democratic governments. He told The New York Times that it was nonsense to suggest he posed a threat. What did Mr. Trump do?
They said he refused to accept his election defeat, incited political violence, and sought to consolidate executive power and undermine public trust in independent sources of information.
The two most fundamental tenets of democracy are that politicians must “always unequivocally accept election results and always unequivocally reject political violence,” says Democracy. said Stephen Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University and co-author of the book, “How the United States dies.” “I don’t think there is a democracy expert in the world who would argue that modest efforts to regulate social media in the United States are as bad as or worse than efforts to overturn an election or encouragement of political violence. ”
Sheri Berman, a political science professor at Barnard College, said that Kennedy not only downplayed Trump’s rejection of the election, but that the threat was “fundamental” and that “for a democracy to function, it is necessary. It must be recognized as such.” , but at the same time exaggerated Biden’s actions.
“If we had a president who used federal agencies to corner his opponents, place them at a political disadvantage, and prevent dialogue with the public and voters, that would be a serious violation of democratic norms.” Dr. Berman said. . “That’s not what Biden was doing.”
In an interview with CNN, Kennedy called Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election “obviously” a threat, adding, “The greatest threat to democracy is the ability to question the results of an election. It’s not about the person, it’s about the president of the United States.” He used the power of his office to get social media companies (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to open portals, give access to those portals to the FBI, CIA, IRS, CISA, NIH, and censors political critics. ”
Then he said he wasn’t making the argument he had just made, he was just saying it was his argument. did it make.
He also provided no evidence of a “portal” through which federal agencies could remove posts. Rather, he was referring to a lawsuit he filed last year alleging that the Biden administration threatened regulatory action to “induce” social media companies to limit speech containing anti-vaccine misinformation. directly.
A federal judge granted the preliminary injunction in February, but put it on hold until the Supreme Court rules on Marcy v. Missouri, a related case in which Kennedy’s case was consolidated. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has allowed the government, including the FBI, to continue contacting major social media companies. And when the case was heard last month, the justices seemed skeptical of the claims against the government.
Government attorney Brian H. Fletcher argued in court that banning the regulations in question is itself an attempt by reporters and other officials to prevent anti-Semitic and Islamophobic posts that are harmful to children. He said speech, including public comment, would be prohibited. He added that social media companies acted independently of the government and often denied requests to remove posts.
A senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee called Kennedy’s comments a “MAGA talking point” and said they dispelled “any doubt that he is a spoiler candidate.”
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said with a straight face that Joe Biden is a greater threat to democracy than Donald Trump because he is prohibited from spreading conspiracy theories online.” Counselor Mary Beth Cahill said. She added, “There’s no comparison to summoning a mob to the Capitol and promising to be a dictator from day one.”
Kennedy also falsely said in a CNN interview that Biden was “the first president in history to use his authority over the Secret Service to deny Secret Service protection to one of his political opponents for political reasons.” and referred to government policy. It has so far refused to extend protection to Mr. Kennedy.
“Major” presidential candidates are eligible for Secret Service protection, but it is not guaranteed. The decision to grant protection is made by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with Congressional leaders from both major parties, and independent and third-party candidates are less likely to receive protection than Democrats or Republicans. .
In a fundraising email Tuesday morning, Kennedy’s campaign reiterated its complaints against the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, describing the party as corrupt and legal efforts to challenge his access to the vote. He attacked the escalation in the Democratic Party and the country’s refusal to allow a debate between Biden and the Democratic Party. Kennedy and Biden.
“The Democratic Party’s political machine is using every tactic at its disposal to thwart our significant momentum,” the email said. “With unlimited resources, establishment Democrats want to prevent a debate between Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Biden. It uses a vast network of dark money groups and unscrupulous lawyers to spread the word.
Dr. Levitsky and Dr. Berman both pointed out that in democracies it is rare for politicians to explicitly reject democratic norms. It is more common to try to create a cloud of suspicion so that voters have a hard time knowing what the truth is.
“Those who are disseminating misinformation about democracy and muddying the waters about what is and is not democratic are complicit in the attack on our democracy. ” said Dr. Levitsky. “The actions we take to preserve democracy have remained the same over time.”
