Covidiots

Axios reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name will still appear on the Michigan ballot despite suspending his campaign last week. Kennedy said last week that he would withdraw his name from the ballot in the key swing states to avoid hurting former President Trump’s chances in November. But in Michigan, one of the states that could decide the election, it’s …

The Washington Post reports: “We are going to stop this crime,” Kennedy pledged to user “Concerned Citizen.” The crime? “Chemtrails,” the conspiracy theory that the lines planes trace in the sky are not water vapor (which they are) but at least occasionally dangerous chemicals being released for some nebulously explained population-control effort. “Chemtrails” are an old-school conspiracy theory, growing up …

Axios reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Tucker Carlson during an interview that aired Monday that he was asked to join former President Trump’s presidential transition team, and he’s “looking forward to that.” Kennedy, who on Friday suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump, told Carlson that he would help “pick the people who will be running the government” during a …

Reuters reports: Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said senior officials in the Biden administration had pressured his social media company to censor COVID-19 content during the pandemic, adding that he would push back if this were to happen again. In a letter dated Aug. 26, Zuckerberg told the judiciary committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that he regretted not …

The Daily Beast reports: Around 1994, Kennedy caught wind that a dead whale had washed up on a beach in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and rushed out to the scene with a chainsaw and 6-year-old Kick in tow. He cut the whale’s head off, secured it to the roof of his minivan with bungee cords, and made the five-hour drive back …

CBS News reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his third-party presidential bid last week and endorsed former President Donald Trump, has lost his Secret Service protection following the decision to leave the race, his campaign said. “Mr. Kennedy no longer has USSS,” Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s press secretary, told CBS News. The Secret Service is required by law to protect …

“What ‘MAGA’ really means: The phrase has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights. “But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today. “Make America Great Again recalls a nation brimming with vitality, …

“They are basically ten swing states where my presence in the race would have helped Vice President Harris and would have harmed President Trump. “So I’m going to get off the ballot in those states and then we’re going to stay on the ballot in 30 states. “I’m encouraging people to vote for me in those states – they’re all …

“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family host most dear. It is …

PBS NewsHour reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will hold a news briefing on Friday, a day after he withdrew from the ballot in Arizona, as Donald Trump is set to appear only a few miles away in the Phoenix area. Fueling speculation that Kennedy could drop his independent presidential bid and endorse the Republican nominee. Trump, campaigning Thursday in southern …

The Arizona Republic reports: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. late Thursday filed to withdraw his name from Arizona’s Nov. 5 ballot, the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office confirmed to The Arizona Republic. Kennedy filed to withdraw about 5:30 p.m., according to JP Martin, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Speculation has swirled about Kennedy considering ending …

ABC News reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to drop out of the presidential race by the end of this week, sources familiar with the decision tell ABC News. Sources tell ABC News that Kennedy plans to endorse Donald Trump — but when asked directly by ABC News if he will be endorsing the former president, Kennedy said, “I …

“There’s two options that we’re looking at. One is staying in, forming that new party; but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump. We draw, somehow, more votes from Trump. Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump; and we walk away from that and we …

Mother Jones reports: Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign hosted an online panel Wednesday on the future of AI moderated, for some reason, by Ian Carroll, a self-styled journalist with a history of antisemitic statements. In the course of the conversation, Kennedy admitted that he “gets manipulated by AI all the time.” “Somebody will send me something and …

The Washington Post reports: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought a meeting last week with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to discuss the possibility of serving in her administration, perhaps as a Cabinet secretary, if he throws his support behind her campaign and she wins, according to Kennedy campaign officials. Harris and her advisers have not responded with an …

PolitiFact reports: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled in favor of PolitiFact and its parent organization in a lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, a legal advocacy group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Aug. 9 ruling affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a complaint brought by the Children’s Health Defense against Meta Platforms and Meta …

Via press release from Robert Kennedy: Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today condemned the openly partisan ruling by Democratic Judge Christina L. Ryba in Albany County Supreme Court against his New York residency and said that he will win on appeal. The ruling came in spite of the fact that Kennedy is registered to vote in New York, …

The New York Post reports: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t a resident of New York and will not appear on the Empire State’s ballot, a lower court in Albany ruled late Monday. Justice Christina L. Ryba ordered Kennedy, 70, to not appear on New York’s presidential ballot, a move that will likely lead to efforts to remove …

The Hill reports: “Right now we have enough signatures to be on all 50 states, so… we’ve handed most of them in, some of the states are not yet certified, but we’re gonna be on the ballot in all 50 states, for sure,” Kennedy told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto. According to a ballot access tracker from The Hill/Decision Desk …

The Texas Tribune reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, will be on the Texas general election ballot this November. The Texas Secretary of State’s office announced Thursday afternoon that it had accepted Kennedy’s petition to appear on the state ballot with 122,513 valid signatures. The Texas election code required a petition to have at least 113,151 valid …