"If I believed the stuff that's written about me in the papers and reported about me on the mainstream news sites, I would definitely not vote for me,” Kennedy said.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blamed the media for dragging his campaign Sunday, saying he has been slammed “even more than President Trump was slammed” by mainstream media outlets.

“I’ve been really, you know, slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented,” Kennedy said during an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic who is running a longshot primary campaign against President Joe Biden, is more popular among Republicans than Democrats, according to polling.

The nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and the son of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, Kennedy Jr. has been hit with backlash for his stances on vaccines, particularly recent comments he made suggesting that the coronavirus could have been “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” while sparing Jewish and Chinese people. Kennedy denied allegations of racism and antisemitism, saying on Twitter: “I have never, ever suggested that the Covid-19 virus was targeted to spare Jews.”

“I mean, listen, if I believed the stuff that’s written about me in the papers and reported about me on the mainstream news sites, I would definitely not vote for me,” Kennedy told host Maria Bartiromo. “I would think I was a very despicable person.”

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    1 year ago

    Thiomersal is in almost no vaccines at this point, and you get more mercury from a can of tuna than you would from a vaccine with thiomersal in it.

    So maybe start scaremongering about tuna salad sandwiches instead.

    • zephyrvs@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Do you know if Thiomersal was removed from most vaccines before or after the issue was brought up?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.mlEnglish
            21·
            1 year ago

            Ok? How is that relevant to the fact that there is far more mercury in a can of tuna than there ever were in any vaccine? Shouldn’t your dire warnings be tuna salad-based? Shouldn’t you be telling the world that they’ll get mercury poisoning from tuna salad?

            • zephyrvs@lemmy.mlEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              I was asking a question, hoping you’d know before I’d have to research it on my own, since you seem to have done some research on this.

              I don’t get why you’re being so passive aggressive so the vegan reply was meant as a joke.

    • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      1 year ago

      Thiomersal is in almost no vaccines at this point

      Thanks to those who fought it!

      and you get more mercury from a can of tuna than you would from a vaccine with thiomersal in it.

      And they recommend limited how much tuna one eats…because of…that’s right! Mercury!

      • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        1 year ago

        Ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and methylmercury (CH3Hg+) are not the same thing. The former is a preservative that’s rapidly metabolized, and the latter is a bio-accumulative environmental toxicant. Huge difference between ethyl and methyl groups. It’s the same reason that ethanol (C₂H₆O) will get you drunk but methanol (CH3OH) will make you go blind.

        God I hate when internet laypeople try to act like they understand chemistry. Have you literally ever taken a chemistry class? If not, please start here, and in the meantime shut the hell up before you get someone killed.

        • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.worldEnglish
          12·
          1 year ago

          I know they aren’t the same thing.

          I’m simply stating that due to thiomersal, there was questions of mercury poisoning. Most vaccines don’t have thiomersal anymore (since 1999), which most agree is a good thing.

          What are you even arguing?

          • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
            51·
            1 year ago

            It’s not a good or bad thing. It just is. The CDC reacted to a bunch of know-nothings who wanted something that sounded bad out of vaccines, so they took it out. Turns out it wasn’t dangerous at all and it was a bunch of wasted effort, and people still get to point back to it and say, “see!? it’s a GOOD thing!” The people questioning its toxicity were morons, and we kowtowed to a bunch of morons. Now people are saying we should put one of those morons in the White House. I’m arguing because you very clearly don’t understand that thimerosal/ethylmercury is not at all dangerous. It’s still in your flu vaccine.

              • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
                31·
                1 year ago

                ALL vaccines are properly tested, thimerosal is not dangerous, and RFK Jr. is a nutcase who’s aided in the harming of children.

                Stop trying to change the topic.

                • MasterOBee Master/King@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  12·
                  1 year ago

                  You just said the CDC doesn’t make policies based on actual science.

                  I’m not changing the subject, my argument has always been against CDC and FDA corruption/misinformation

                  • Blackbeard@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    2·
                    1 year ago

                    You just said the CDC doesn’t make policies based on actual science.

                    I quite literally did not. That’s your hyperpartisan lizard brain speaking.

                    ALL vaccines are properly tested, thimerosal is not dangerous, and RFK Jr. is a nutcase who’s aided in the harming of children.