Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blasted MSNBC host Ari Melber on Wednesday, accusing the host of “trying to stoke” unnecessary “vitriol” between him and fellow candidates President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Melber played for Kennedy a montage of Trump's comments with no context for any of them.
The comments, Melber told Kennedy, “is why people say, how can you say that Biden and Trump are equally catastrophic or 'both catastrophic'” for America.
(Video: YouTube)
“That's all debate gimmicks,” Kennedy responded before the clip rolled again. “You're lighting fires faster than I can put them out. Everything you say, I can respond to. Give me a chance to respond.”
Melber promised that Kennedy would “get the word out” after seeing the montage.
“I made this for you,” he said.
“People don't care that this is Nader 2.0, but that you use the platform and the next thing you have to suggest that both are catastrophic, that they are similar and that, they say, you are not only ignoring the political difference, but the possible democracy real and the autocratic threat of Donald Trump if he wins again,” Melber said.
“I never said that,” Kennedy replied. “Like I said, I think they both did bad things to our country. I think they both contributed.”
Speaking about the $34 trillion national debt, the Independent said “neither can solve this problem”.
“Let me tell you something else they can't do,” Kennedy added. “Neither can end the vitriol you're trying to shore up right now.”
“What did I say that was vitriolic?” Melber asked.
“What you're telling me is that I have to take sides and say a person…” Kennedy replied before Melber cut him off.
“No, I'm asking you about: You're running for president and it's an important job and I'm asking you about what people are saying about it,” he said.
“You told me I would have the floor!” barked his enraged guest.
“We're facing a moment in our history that … is more vitriolic, more polarized, more venomous, at any time since the American Civil War,” Kennedy said, “and it's all being amplified by the algorithms of the social networks”.
“It's hard to find a way out of this if someone doesn't come and say, 'I'm not going to be involved,' and even if people act crazy on both sides, I'm not going to be a part of that craziness,” he vowed. “I'll try to talk about the issues people are concerned about.”
Trump returns to the scorched earth at RFK Jr. in Social Truth posts: 'Democrat Plante, a Radical Left Liberal' https://t.co/A4ZDNm7OZ6 road @BIZPACRevision
— Based on BPR (@DumpstrFireNews) April 27, 2024
Melber continued.
“You're not addressing the question I posed,” he said.
“That's when I say you're fueling the vitriol,” Kennedy told him. “You're trying to make me hate President Trump.”
When asked about the potential for pardons on January 6, Kennedy called the events at the Capitol “a terrible day.”
“Look, January 6 was a terrible moment in our history. A terrible day. People committed terrible crimes,” Kennedy said. “They committed violence against police officers. They broke into the Capitol. They stormed the capitol. They committed other crimes, and a lot of people are in prison and should be.”
“So I condemn it,” Kennedy said. “But I'm not going to run a campaign based on bashing or amplifying people's hatred of each other.”
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