Usually I like Kimberley Strassel’s take on things, but not this time. A friend of mine who is a regular reader of both the NYT and the WSJ pointed out today’s column by Strassel, one of his favorites. I looked it up and as I said above, I usually see things from her point of view, but I’m having a hard time agreeing with her on this one.
I’m curious to learn what your take is on it. Also, read the comments. The link taking you there is:
https://archive.is/Nqsfy#selection-5715.0-6013.80
The Great RFK Jr. Charade
Why won’t the Senate take an opportunity to save Trump from a bad political deal?
By
Dec. 12, 2024 4:43 pm ET
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. DEPARTS THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE IN NEW YORK, DEC. 12.
The Republican Senate mantra these days is that a president is entitled to cabinet members he trusts to carry out his agenda. Does the same apply to a pick the president-elect has acknowledged is both unqualified and hostile to the most basic Republican ideals?
Welcome to the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nomination, one of the more counterproductive Washington charades in recent history. Donald Trump has, in payback for late-stage election support, nominated a man for the vital cabinet position (health and human services) whom he once labeled a “Democrat Plant” and a bigger threat to the country than Joe Biden. Now meet the Republican senators, activists and influencers who are so clueless—and so blindly eager to salute the leader—that they can’t see the opportunity to save Mr. Trump from a deal he would never have made in other circumstances.
Mr. Trump was unvarnished (and accurate) in his judgment of Mr. Kennedy—until the third-party candidate suspended his presidential run in August. In a four-minute video in May and in other social-media posts, Mr. Trump laid out in-depth the Kennedy positions and history that deserved to make him a nonstarter with Republican and conservative voters and elected officials.
He’s a “Radical Left Liberal” who is “totally Anti-Gun, an Extreme Environmentalist who makes the Green New Scammers look Conservative, a Big Time Taxer and Open Border Advocate, and Anti-Military/Vet,” Mr. Trump said. He added that he’d even “take Biden over Junior” because under Mr. Kennedy the country “would collapse immediately.” “He’s not a Republican, so don’t think you’re going to vote for him and feel good. He’s a radical left Democrat. Let the Democrats have RFK Jr. They deserve him.”
Only, apparently, it’s now Republicans who do.
Mr. Trump wasn’t alone. Prior to Mr. Kennedy’s endorsement, the GOP universe was clear-eyed about the radical environmentalist who spent decades on a mission to destroy the Trump base. An online search finds pages of stories of Mr. Kennedy’s efforts to cripple farmers, ranchers, loggers and oil workers. Others outline his disdain for markets, core freedoms and limited government.
In 2023—well before Mr. Trump won the nomination—the Republican National Committee put out an RFK fact sheet listing dozens of offensive positions. His belief that the National Rifle Association is a “terror group”; his support of affirmative action to stop “self perpetuating” “racist policies”; his opposition to fracking and the Keystone Pipeline and his view that oil companies and “climate deniers” should be jailed or given “the death penalty”; his Hillary Clinton endorsements. Mr. Kennedy in 2016 explained that the real difference between Mr. Trump and Hitler was that Hitler had “a plan,” whereas Mr. Trump was “non compos mentis.” (Mr. Kennedy has since apologized for those remarks.)
Some justifiers will point out that Mr. Trump routinely lambasts Republicans and later makes nice. (Nothing new here!) Others will say his Kennedy criticism was driven entirely by electoral politics. (He didn’t really mean it!) But this is different. Mr. Trump’s barbs against fellow Republicans stem from his perceptions of wavering loyalty, which explain his later reconciliations. His criticism of progressive Democrats like Nancy Pelosi or Bernie Sanders (or RFK Jr.) by contrast tend to be consistent—because they are rooted in what Mr. Trump correctly understands to be enormous worldview differences.
Until now—which ought to be a hint. It seems not to have occurred to Senate Republicans—who ought to have learned a little bit about Mr. Trump by now—that he needs a rescue here. No insider believes this is a heartfelt pick. Even political naïfs understand what happened: This agreement was entirely transactional. Mr. Trump saw an opportunity to gain RFK’s endorsement. The price was a promise of a big post. The president-elect is holding true to that deal as a businessman, so he won’t dare whisper misgivings for fear of leaks.
Instead Senate Republicans are playing monkey-see-monkey-do to an extent that even Mr. Trump must be exasperated. Nearly every GOP senator looks at Mr. Kennedy with wincing concern—knowing the havoc the anticapitalist big-government regulator can and will wreak on a Trump agenda. Yet no one steps up to save the president. If Joe Biden chose Hulk Hogan to be Treasury secretary, does anyone think Democrats would have let him step into that trap? But so desperate right now are Republicans to nod along that they are abdicating the real job of advice and consent—and protection.
Presidents do deserve the honor of naming their picks. But in today’s insane world of more than 1,000 Senate-confirmable positions even the most capable president will pick a lemon, a charlatan or, in this case, a person who had them over the barrel. The need for confirmation by a Senate majority exists in part to help the president, and to spare him—and the country—the future headache. The Senate ought to try it.
Write to kim@wsj.com.
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Appeared in the December 13, 2024, print edition as ‘The Great RFK Jr. Charade’.
Completely support RFK. I think Kim’s got it wrong
Well what with all of her remarks/accusations – please show us the proof. And RECENT stuff – not maybe how he could’ve been 20 to 40 yrs ago. But Now. See I allow for people to change.