In the most recent Fox News survey, only 19% of Democratic primary voters backed RFK Jr., while 62% backed Biden.
Bill Maher, host of “Real Time,” is “surprised” by the early support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is receiving just days after he formally entered the Democratic campaign to run against Joe Biden.
Maher read a question from a viewer on Friday’s “Overtime” segment, who wanted to know how the panel felt about a Fox News poll showing RFK Jr. with 19% support among Democratic primary voters, much higher than President Biden’s 62% support despite Biden’s position as the sitting vice president.
Marianne Williamson, a spiritual teacher and a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, withdrew from the race earlier this year. In the same poll, her support level was at 9%.
RFK Jr.’s first poll results have startled Maher. “I must say, I’m surprised that right off the bat, he’s polling at 19%,” he said.
According to Michael Moynihan, co-host of “The Fifth Column,” other studies show that up to 70% of Americans don’t want Biden to run again, and that this trend shows that “people are looking for alternatives.”
“I really wish it wasn’t Robert Kennedy,” Moynihan said, “but the DNC is getting ready to stop him from doing any damage right now.” There won’t be any communication between them at all. There won’t be any debates leading up to the vote. He will be sidelined immediately. To get there, he plans to work his way through the Democratic Party’s ranks. If he runs as an independent, that will be an issue for you.
Maher probed Moynihan on his opposition to RFK Jr. challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination. Moynihan countered by citing the candidate’s history of views and actions, including his backing of Hugo Chávez and his stated desire to jail skeptics of climate change.
As a result of this, “He’s also becoming more suspicious, saying things like, ‘They’re always censoring me.'” Since you’re a Kennedy, I just can’t believe it. You were successful in selling 2 million copies of your most recent book. Moynihan was the one to declare, “No one is telling you what to say.”
For those who believe RFK Jr. was wrong about COVID, Maher has some bad news: the US government “got a lot wrong.”
Paraphrasing Maher, “He might be wrong about some things, but he’s not a nut.” If we’ve learned anything, it’s that “He’s not a nut, and neither is he a nut about COVID or vaccines.”
One may interpret this as “The thing is, you know, it’s hard to tell these days.””You might get thrown off of Facebook, YouTube, and all this other things,” Moynihan said, “if you said, ‘This came from a lab in Wuhan, not a wet market in Wuhan, but the lab created terrible viruses that were down the street. As a result, many people, not just the culpable one, were kicked out. It was quite common, in fact. Everything that was taboo back then is now considered common knowledge.
According to Maher, “what we know about medicine is always changing from day to day.” “There is a lot of it, and I’m not saying it’s all OK. It’s almost as if people would remark, “Oh, see? the Sacklers,” if they hear that the Sacklers are involved in the pharmaceutical industry. But when COVID is brought up, they say, “Oh, no. Surely there must be nothing wrong with them. Okay, but could you elaborate a bit more? Simply state that they made every effort and prevailed. They developed a vaccine that saved the lives of countless people. That’s correct, too. It’s possible that Robert Kennedy and I will disagree on this.