Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Tucker Carlson in an interview this week that Vice President Kamala Harris refused to meet with him — unlike former President Donald Trump.
“I reached out to her, and I reached out to a number of people, including some relatives of mine, who are very, very close to her personally and to the, in the Democratic Party,” Kennedy said. “And they just said, ‘That’s a non-starter. There’s no way in the world she’s going to talk to you.”’
Kennedy said he was offered a meeting with a “low-level campaign official” for Harris, who is the Democratic presidential nominee.
“And I said, ‘Okay, I’m not interested in that,'” Kennedy recalled.
When Bobby Kennedy endorsed Donald Trump last week, he burned his boats. There’s no turning back for him, or for American politics. Here’s his first interview since that happened.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 26, 2024
(0:42) RFK Jr. Endorsing Donald Trump
(11:26) Censorship and Pavel Durov’s Arrest
(34:56) America’s… pic.twitter.com/AOQULEvZeX
When Carlson pressed Kennedy on why he believes Harris would not meet with him, Kennedy replied: “Maybe that same reason that [she] hasn’t given an interview.” As of Tuesday, Harris had gone almost 40 days without giving an unscripted press conference about policy solutions.
Kennedy added that some Democrats he knows are comfortable electing someone who “cannot give an interview” because they are “electing the apparatus” around Harris, rather than Harris herself.
“But the apparatus — I don’t have any faith in it. The apparatus are neo-cons like Antony Blinken, who are running us right up into World War III. And they are people who masterminded the censorship from inside the White House. That’s the apparatus that they want to reelect,” he said. “…These are the people who are censoring me. These are the people who are tried to throw me out of the party, who canceled the primaries.”
Carlson pointed out that “electing an apparatus is not how democracy works.”
“That’s an oligarchy — just a point of fact,” Carlson continued. “…But she wouldn’t even talk to you. I think it’s very weird.”
“It’s weird, but I can’t stress it enough: not being able to give an interview? I mean, your whole life is in public life. That’s what you do,” Kennedy replied, noting that Trump continually talks to reporters “who write crappy articles about him all the time.”
“One of the functions of a president is to explain to us why we should be proud of each other, and why we are part of a community, and why our country is great, and what our future is going to look like… and inspire all of us with that vision,” he added. “That is what a real leader does. How in the world can you do that if you cannot give an interview to a news [organization] or a friendly [news organization]. They can’t even do a setup interview in 40 days.”
Kennedy, a Democrat-turned independent, sat down with Carlson just days after endorsing Trump for president. Kennedy ultimately announced the suspension — not the end — of his presidential campaign, urging blue state residents to vote for him while throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump in battleground states.
