A leaked video of presidential contenders Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former President Donald Trump has set some tongues wagging about the potential for cooperation between the two political figures.
The two-minute-long video shows Kennedy and Trump having a conversation via telephone. Kennedy mostly listens during the exchange.
“I would love you to do something, and I think it would be good for your — and so big for you — and we are going to win. We are way ahead of [President Joe Biden],” Trump said.
The former president then recalled his conversation with Biden after surviving the attempt on his life in Butler County, Pennsylvania. He explained that the would-be assassin’s bullet “felt like a giant, like the world’s largest mosquito” when it ripped through a portion of his ear. He also noted that it was the slight tilt of his head toward a prop chart about illegal immigration under the Biden administration that was on display at the rally that saved his life.
Kennedy appeared to be appalled by the leak of his private conversation with the former president.
“When President Trump called me I was taping with an in-house videographer. I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately. I am mortified that this was posted. I apologize to the president,” Kennedy posted on X.
When President Trump called me I was taping with an in-house videographer. I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately. I am mortified that this was posted. I apologize to the president.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 16, 2024
The leak occurred just one day after Patrick Webb of Leading Report reported that the son of slain 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy was in Milwaukee, the location of the Republican National Convention. His presence in the city fueled speculation that Trump was possibly going to choose Kennedy as his vice presidential running mate.
The Dallas Express contacted Kennedy’s campaign for comment about whether a meeting took place while he was in Milwaukee. Campaign officials confirmed a meeting with Trump took place.
“Yes, Mr. Kennedy met with President Trump on Monday to discuss national unity, and he hopes to meet with leaders of the Democratic Party as well,” a spokesperson said, echoing a similar message Kennedy posted on X.
Although DX had not asked, the spokesperson preempted any question about the future of Kennedy’s presidential campaign.
“And no, he is not dropping out of the race. He is the only pro-environment, pro-choice, anti-war candidate who beats Donald Trump in head-to-head polls,” the spokesperson claimed.
DX followed up for clarification as to whether the meeting with Trump was separate from the phone call that had been leaked. The Kennedy campaign did not respond by press time.
No matter the future relationship between these two men, Kennedy and Trump have interacted professionally in the past. Kennedy was previously slated to chair the former president’s vaccine commission when the latter assumed office in January 2017. However, the project was quietly scrapped at some point after Trump’s inauguration.
Kennedy is a famous environmentalist and consumer protection lawyer. He has previously spoken to DX about toxins in Texas’ water supply and Dr. Mary Talley Bowden’s successful lawsuit against the FDA over its misleading statements about ivermectin.
His already lofty public profile was elevated during the COVID-19 lockdowns when he strongly opposed mandatory injections of the COVID-19 vaccine and wrote the best-seller The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, which highlighted allegations of corruption that were swirling around America’s then-top doctor.
During the beginning portion of the leaked clip, Trump can be heard discussing potential vaccine injuries suffered by infants. Trump also talks about perceived radical changes in children’s personalities after vaccination and the purportedly high number of vaccinations they receive in the United States.
It appears Trump could have been referring to a 2010 study in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health that found that “Boys vaccinated [for Hepatitis B] as [newborns] had threefold greater odds for autism diagnosis compared to boys never vaccinated or vaccinated after the first month of life.”
The study likewise found that instances of autism among boys plummet if the Hep B vaccine is held until after a baby is at least one month old. The study was conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The examined children were given the second-generation Hep B vaccine.
However, some doctors reject these findings categorically. Without addressing the study specifically, Dr. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center, has said, “There is no downside to getting the Hepatitis vaccine at birth.”
He dismissed the notion of delaying the vaccine’s administration until later in a child’s life.
Trump may also have been referring to the fact that European children, like the British, receive a fraction of the childhood vaccines that Americans do, and Germans, for example, space their vaccinations over a greater period of time than Americans.
