Certain, chances are you’ll consider the present state of affairs represents the worst attainable political actuality. However to that, I say, RFK Jr. 2028? It’s no joke; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the longtime antivaxxer and present steward of the nation’s public well being, might certainly be eyeing one other presidential run. Axios first reported Wednesday that RFK Jr.’s tremendous PAC co-hosted an organizing assembly final week over Zoom. Whereas the assembly was ostensibly meant to drum up help for Kennedy’s “Make America Wholesome Once more” motion, at the least some individuals suppose he’s planning additional forward. “A 2028 presidential marketing campaign wasn’t explicitly mentioned, however two individuals with data of the decision got here away believing it was a step towards one other marketing campaign for Kennedy,” Axios reported. Notably, the assembly was led by Tony Lyons, cofounder of the MAHA tremendous PAC, and included calls from distinguished MAHA-supportive influencers like superstar Russell Model and motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
RFK Jr. is now the Secretary of Well being and Human Companies—a cupboard place he secured after ending his first doomed presidential run in the summertime of 2024, adopted by his endorsement of Donald Trump. Since then, each Trump and the GOP have largely embraced Kennedy’s agenda. Underneath the guise of bettering the nation’s strategy to continual sickness, Kennedy has overseen widespread firings and funding cuts throughout the numerous businesses beneath HHS, together with on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and the Meals and Drug Administration. He’s pressured corporations to take away artificial meals dyes from their merchandise in favor of naturally obtained ones, regardless of restricted proof suggesting the previous are typically riskier to individuals’s well being. He’s appointed like-minded vaccine skeptics to essential positions, a few of whom have already succeeded at having their nonsensical beliefs enshrined as authorities coverage. And he’s pledged to sort out fictional threats like chemtrails whereas downplaying actual ones like fowl flu and the biggest U.S. outbreak of measles documented within the final 30 years. Oh, and for some unusual cause, he desires each American to be carrying a Fitbit by 2028. It’s in no way sure that RFK Jr. will run for president once more, nor that he’d have a lot of an opportunity if he did. In any case, his first attempt—first working as a Democratic candidate, then independently—did flop. A latest Pew ballot additionally discovered {that a} majority of Individuals (43%) disapprove of his tenure as HHS chief, whereas solely 36% are supportive. He’d even be 75 years outdated by the point he took workplace. However with Trump solely having one time period left (hopefully), there’ll undoubtedly be many would-be successors trying to take over the reins of the GOP. And few of those potential candidates proper now have the form of speedy fanbase that RFK Jr. can boast.
If the final decade of politics in America ought to educate us something, it’s that nothing is really unimaginable, for higher or worse.
