Speaking before the Libertarian National Convention on Friday, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized former president Donald Trump for being “steamrolled by bureaucrats” over Covid-19–related restrictions.
Trump “had the right instinct when he came into office,” Kennedy said, noting the Republican was “initially reluctant to impose lockdowns.”
But under pressure from bureaucrats, Kennedy said, Trump “gave keys to all of our business to a 50-year bureaucrat who had never been elected to anything and had no accountability.”
“President Trump presided over the greatest restriction of individual liberties this country has ever known,” Kennedy said, adding that the former president “didn’t stand up for the Constitution when it really mattered.”
“Maybe a brain worm ate that part of my memory, but I don’t recall any part of the United States Constitution where there’s an exemption for pandemics,” he said, making light of his recent disclosure that a parasite ate part of his brain in 2010.
Kennedy told attendees on Friday that he hopes Trump “has the courage to stand up” on the debate stage against him at some point to discuss his “attacks on the Constitution.”
He had challenged Trump to debate him at the convention, but the former president, who is set to address the convention on Saturday, declined. Trump previously said Kennedy is “not a serious candidate.”
“Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our Country. . . . We must all work together to help advance freedom and liberty for every American, and a second Trump Administration will achieve that goal. I look forward to speaking at the Libertarian Event, which will be attended by many of my great friends,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
Trump’s appearance will mark the first time a former president has directly addressed the convention, the party said in a press release. The party is looking to confirm its presidential and vice presidential nominees on Sunday.
Kennedy, who is not seeking the Libertarian nomination but espouses several views that align with the party’s philosophies on small government, drew the loudest applause in vowing to drop all charges against Julian Assange and to pardon Edward Snowden on the first day of a hypothetical Kennedy administration.
Meanwhile, the Democrat-turned-independent candidate accused President Biden of carrying out an “obscene orgy of federal censorship that was unprecedented in the American experience,” citing FBI collusion with social-media platforms to censor information related to Covid-19 vaccines. He also decried Biden’s implementation of Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
Kennedy also attacked Trump over his role in developing and pushing the Covid-19 vaccine, the latest update in the pair’s ongoing back-and-forth over the issue. Kennedy’s criticisms have reportedly led Trump to distance himself from what many consider to be one of his greatest achievements, Operation Warp Speed, which sped up the development of the vaccine.
Trump, meanwhile, has accused Kennedy of being a “fake” anti-vaxxer.
A recent Fox News poll found Trump leading Biden among registered voters by one percentage point in a head-to-head matchup. With Kennedy and independent candidate Cornel West added to the mix, Trump’s lead over Biden grew to three points.