RFK Jr. Endorsement of Trump “has given people who were demoralized a reason for optimism”
My hot take on an antidote to Operation Demoralize: “this was what the Trump campaign needed, a breath of fresh air, a narrative changer, a reason for optimism after Biden bowing out and Harris being anointed”
You know about Operation Demoralize:
- Don’t Fall For ‘Operation Demoralize’ (August 2, 2024)
- Operation Demoralize – Shake Out of It and Get Yourself Together (August 14, 2024)
That there was an effort to demoralize people did not mean the Trump campaign did not have problems. They seemed to have difficulting segueing from running against Biden to running against Kamala and the media hype surrounding her.
A reset was needed. And it may have come in the form of the endorsement of Trump by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as reflected in his appearance at a Trump rally soon after the endorsement.
UNITE AMERICA.#RFKJr #trump pic.twitter.com/f5NXgxdRJs
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 24, 2024
Here’s my hot take, excerpted from our full podcast, RFK Jr. Steals the Show as Trump Endorsement Overshadows DNC Drama – Episode 7: Legal Insurrection Podcast.
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Transcript auto-generated, may contain transription errors. Lightly edited for transcription clarity.
I think the significance of the RFK announcement is enormous. I don’t know if we’ve fully appreciated it.
First of all, it completely takes the attention away from the convention and potentially diminishes or evaporates the Kamala bounce out of the convention, because the next day everybody’s talking about RFK. So I think it’s important there.
It could be important statistically in these swing states. I just glanced at them and in a lot of these states, he was getting 3 to 5% of the vote based on polls, to the extent you credit them. But that’s the only information we have. And some of those people will not vote for Trump under any circumstance, but if he can swing even 1% of the vote towards Trump, you know, balancing out versus, you know, of his 5%, 2%, might go to Harris, 2% to Trump, that’s a wash. But if he brings one more percent to Trump, given what we’ve seen in 2016 and 2020, that could be the difference. You know, 30,000 votes in a state, 50,000 in a, in a state could be the difference. And so I think statistically it’s potentially very important. And the fact that he endorsed Trump and appeared with Trump could help sway that.
Last but not least, I think this was what the Trump campaign needed, a breath of fresh air, a narrative changer, a reason for optimism after, Biden bowing out and Harris being anointed and that whole manipulation and hiding her and all of that. I think the Trump campaign needed a reset. And I think he provides that reset button.
I think that it is a net positive. I think it’s going to be an enormous positive for the Trump campaign to have him out there, because there is a generation for which the Kennedy name still carries a lot of weight and that generation hasn’t died off yet. I’m that generation.
It was very inspiring to see him come out. And if you on the stage with Trump, I think it was electrifying. I think it was an energy I haven’t really seen at the Trump campaign yet.
Yes, Trump gets crowds, but that was electric. If you watch that. And there’s one video in particular where they show him coming out from backstage, essentially walking towards the light. And the light is the stage with the crowd roaring and he walks up.
I think that is energizing people. From what I’ve seen on X formerly Twitter, Democrats are despondent. They’re viciously attacking him. They’re getting his relatives to viciously attack him. So I think this changes the atmosphere of the election, and I think that’s critically important.
So I don’t care what you say, what anybody says, this is a net positive for Trump. It is potentially a huge net positive. And it is potentially a game changer for the election in a cycle like we’ve been having where 1% of the vote in swing states makes all the difference in the world. So I think it’s important. I think people are underestimating the energy.
It has brought a lot of people, and we talked about this in Operation Demoralize, a lot of people were very down. What is Trump going to do? How is he going to turn it around? This was a massive gift. The timing couldn’t have been better. And I think that it will make a difference. Whether it’s the difference in who wins is too early to tell, but it has changed the tone of the campaign.
It has given people who were demoralized a reason for optimism. And it has brought an energy that the Trump campaign has been lacking, frankly, until now.
I really do think it’s a game changer, as much as I try to keep people’s spirits up….
There was no excitement in the Trump campaign. There really wasn’t. And I hate to say it, there wasn’t, aparticularly once Biden dropped out, and now I think it’s, I think this, I think the RFK endorsement and the RFK help in the swing states has enormous potential to be a game changer.
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Comments
Also, RFK blew a hole into Operation Demoralize by stating what the parties know to be tru- Harris is not ahead of Trump, and the race is close. Everyone is talking about if RFK;s endorsement is going to give Trump a critical 1-2% bump while no one but Harris is now claiming Harris is up by 5%.
That’s right. The blaring Drudge Report headline says she’s up by 7 points.
Drudge is a sad parody of what he once was.
Wasn’t he always a reclusive, prickly homosexualist?
If you think that Leftists like Tulsi and RFK, Jr. are reasons to cheer, then you aren’t striking a blow against “Operation Demoralize”, you are pushing “Operation Clap For The Fairies”.
Prof., you are spot on! My friends and I have all said that we feel more optimism now than in months. I also think that some of the left leaning moms are going to be thinking about children’s’ health and food safety which RFK Jr. is highlighting.
Very good observation. Convincing some of the suburban liberal wine moms to at least consider Trump is a big win. Hopefully what occurs throughout the ‘independent’ and/or ‘undecided’ portions of the electorate is an actual evaluation of the policies. If that happens then Trump wins but if the voters remain focused on sex, race and their preconceived notions about Trump (some of which DJT unfortunately leans into and reinforces at times) the Harris wins. That’s why the d/prog strategy is zero access to Harris, no Q&A, no real policy proposals. They are running a personality contest v ‘Orange Man Bad’ focusing on a ‘historic first’ female, black/Indian (which is emphasized depends on the audience) and very little to no substance. The sad thing is at least 45% of the electorate is eating it up or just chalking it up to team Red v Team blue electoral dynamics and those folks will vote for whatever empty vessel Team blue puts up as a candidate.
I like the phrase “wine mom” but for that group “whine mom” also fits.
Yes, uninformed, emotional, moon bats, will certainly probe the niceties of Kennedy’s white papers before casting their votes. It also helps that he could double as a Vegas impersonator of Stephen Hawking.
No, but he may appeal to their particular flavor of moonbattery. If they genuinely buy his bill of goods about the deadly peril their children are in, and now he tells them to vote for Trump, some of them may do it, and more may stay home. That’s a win.
The man’s popular Hollywood wife doesn’t support him. I should think that would count for more.
Yes, she does. Stop lying.
we’ll find out if
divorce papers are served
Hines very publicly denounced her husband’s vaccine stance (his signature issue) a few months back, and now has denounced his endorsement of Trump. I do not call this supporting, but if someone has an idiosyncratic interpretation of these actions it hardly means mine rises to the level of a lie. Sticks and stones.
The question is: Do those wacky suburban Moms who think that MMR shots cause autism love RFK, Jr. more than they loathe Trump?
That’s easy. If they pronounce loathe the same way as loath, they hate Trump more.
The answer is that some of them probably do, especially if he makes them think that Trump might be persuaded about the subject (which unfortunately might even be true), while Harris won’t ever be.
You don’t believe the statistics? When you look at the STATISTICS of what has changed over the DECADES and how CHILDREN have been affected how can an INTELLIGENT person look at the EVIDENCE and at least THINK that SOMETHING has caused so much damage to CHILDREN! It can’t ALL be explained away as “due to man made climate change”! Do yourself a favor – search for a box of FRUIT LOOPS – check the ingredients on a US box compare to an EU box! Ours reads like a CHEMISTRY BOOK – theirs is like a FRUIT STAND!! Now I don’t buy into everything RFK, Jr. says, but he does have a few good points. PRESIDENT TRUMP said he wants to be PRESIDENT for ALL AMERICANS !
The support by DEMOcrats shows he is willing to listen to other voices. THAT is the way an INTELLIGENT person succeeds!!
Another moonbat heard from.
No, I don’t trust your statistics, any more than I trust the rest of your pseudo-science.
People who fell for Operation Demoralize are weak-minded at best, looking for the right moment to turn coat at worst.
The only significant thing that happened was a democrat admission that federal agencies have been weaponized against the non-left. That’s likely to carry weight with the left, so has significance.
The non-left has been saying the same thing for years but haven’t make any inroads into the left’s news silo and so didn’t influence the opposition.
The leftist Bulwark is at pains to claim that RFK is either nuts or not on the left
BREAKING! RFK Jr. Drops Out in DERANGED Speech! Endorses Trump! What Does This Mean? | Bulwark Takes
https://youtu.be/17ybuPLV1Kg
RFK, Jr. was always a Leftist and always a nut. It’s amazing how people will praise anyone who “wubs” Trump.
IMO Trump and Kennedy need to run together the rest of the way on the theme that “we need to bring back the America where Democrats and Republicans were not all that different and repudiate the left-wingers that are doing so much damage. IMO the recurring presence of Kennedy sends the critical message that it is OK for a Democrat with a brain to vote for Trump. That is the only way you can get a blowount election for Trump, although I think massive campus disruption in the Fall will help.
The GOP is already running as pre-woke Dems. Leftist economics. Blame America First foreign policy, Throw in a pro-abortion social policy and Trump getting the support of Leftists like Tulsi and RKF, Jr. isn’t surprising.
So the “uniparty”?
PRESIDENT TRUMP has said he envisions a Party for ALL AMERICANS. The “uni-party” needs to go! If he can assemble an Administration that TRIES to Restore America to a Nation of Decency, Common Sense, Pride, Healthy people, Prosperity, and Safety then so what if he includes some DEMOcrats? They’re not ALL INSANE!!
You’re behind the times. The “uniparty” was yesterday’s Pravda. Now the Pravda is that “we need to bring back the America where Democrats and Republicans were not all that different”. We have always been at war with Eastasia.
We watched the video of RFK Jr’s speech announcing his joining force with Trump. What was most striking is that he emphasized that he and Trump differ markedly on a number of issues; but that they together are modeling our pre-Left shift political environment. People could differ on “hot” issues but agree on the foundational issues of free speech, an uncensored press, and secure, fair elections. In other words, the “Marquess of Queensbury” rules of political infighting. The Left abandons all that, at its philosophical core where there is no such thing as truth, only the will to power.
RFK jr speech was weak. He said something like, ‘keep voting for me in states where it doesn’t matter but otherwise vote for Trump. ‘.
We got a Kennedy!!!
This Kennedy’s campaign ended a lot better than his Dad’s, Uncle’s, cousins ..
Professor I agree on the great timing, and have little to add. I await mid-week lolling and odds data to see if Jr deflated the convention bump or not.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been an RFK Jr. fan since before he announced, and his being treated by Democrats the same way Trump has been, and now with Trump supporting adding some of his priorities to his own platform, there’s definitely a lot of new energy there that’s very welcome to folks like me. RFK Jr., with his heritage and verbal adroitness, is able to skewer Democrats in a few words, such as “Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?” and “[The Democratic party] had become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big AG, and big money.”
Mrs. Gabbard has always been a mystery to me! I guess since she was running for office in the MOST LEFT State in Our Nation (geographically as well as ideology) she HAD to be a DEMOcrat. Her actions and words however don’t paint the “typical” DEMOcrat politician! She is PATRIOTIC, espouses DECENCY, and is clearly NOT INSANE!