Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr apologized to Donald Trump on Tuesday after Kennedy’s son posted video and audio of a call between the two men in which Trump made bizarre comments about vaccines and babies, as well as appearing to offer Kennedy some kind of political agreement.
“When President Trump called me, I was recording with an in-house cameraman,” Kennedy he said. “I should have ordered the cameraman to stop recording immediately. I’m mortified that this was posted. I apologize to the president.”
The call was apparently made before Trump and Kennedy’s later call meeting on Monday at the Republican national convention in Milwaukee, reportedly to discuss the possibility of Kennedy endorsing Trump.
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The record it was posted online by Kennedy’s son, Bobby Kennedy III, with the message: “I firmly believe these types of conversations should be had in public. Here is Trump giving his real opinion to my father about vaccinating children – this was the day after the assassination attempt.”
Trump survived an assassination attempt on Saturday during a rally in Pennsylvania, when a man armed with an AR-15-style rifle opened fire from a nearby rooftop, grazing the president’s ear and killing a rally attendee.
Robert Kennedy Jr’s father, Attorney General and US Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and uncle, President John F. Kennedy, were assassinated in the 1960s. After Trump’s shooting, Joe Biden ordered the Secret Service to protect Kennedy.
The video of the Trump-Kennedy call is just over a minute and 40 seconds long. It shows Kennedy standing next to a US flag in a dimly lit room, holding a phone and listening to Trump on speakerphone.
Parts of Trump’s remarks are difficult to hear. But he can be heard talking about a subject close to Kennedy’s heart: the supposed dangers of vaccination.
Video of Trump’s call with RFK Jr. leaked – Trump talks about vaccines, tells RFK Jr. that doing something with him would be “big,” mentioned his call with Biden and said the bullet was like “the biggest mosquito in the world ”.
RFK Jr apologized for the leak. pic.twitter.com/Z6DQ955P6W– Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) July 16, 2024
A former environmental lawyer, Kennedy rose to prominence before and during the Covid pandemic by spreading conspiracy theories about vaccines and their supposed effects.
Trump was president in the first year of the pandemic, a period of rapid development of Covid vaccines, but also of growing right-wing distrust of public health directives.
In his call with Kennedy, Trump said, “I agree with you, man. Something is wrong with this whole system.”
Kennedy says, “Yes.”
Trump continues: “And it’s the doctors you meet. Remember I said, ‘I want to do small doses.’ Small doses.”
His words then take a bizarre turn.
“When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccine that has about 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s for a horse, not a 10 or 20 pound baby, you know, it looks like you’re giving it, you should be give that thing to a horse, and have you seen the size of it? It’s huge and then you see the baby suddenly starting to change radically. I’ve seen this many times. And then you hear that it has no impact, right? But you and I have been talking about this for a long time.”
Trump then appears to suggest that the two men work together.
“Anyway, I would love for you to do something and I think it would be really good for you and really big for you.”
Kennedy listens. Trump’s words become difficult to understand. He describes the shooting in Pennsylvania, saying the bullet that grazed him “looked like the biggest mosquito in the world.”
“It’s an AR-15 or something like that,” says the former president, who reject efforts toward gun control reform. “This is a great weapon. Those are pretty tough weapons, right?
When posting the recording, Bobby Kennedy III also suggested Anthony Fauci, Biden’s former chief medical adviser, should be in prison; appeared to suggest that his father should have been Trump’s running mate on a “unity ticket” instead of “JD ‘fire all the unvaccinated nurses’ Vance,” the Ohio senator said Monday; and implied that Republicans and Democrats were subordinate to Pfizer, a multinational vaccine producer.
Kennedy III added: “This is not a cheap hoax or someone doing a Trump voice. This is the real deal.”
Polls show that Kennedy could influence the presidential race in key states. The debate continues over whether he will get more support from Biden or Trump.
Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Spear confirmed that the two men met at the RNC in Milwaukee, claiming it was “to discuss national unity” and saying that Kennedy “looks forward to also meeting with Democratic Party leaders.”
“And no, he is not giving up on the race. He is the only pro-environment, pro-choice, anti-war candidate who beats Donald Trump in head-to-head polls.”
