Kennedy turns up the heat on Trump: He ‘caved’ on Covid-19

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ramped up his attacks on former President Donald Trump before libertarians Friday afternoon — setting up dueling speeches as Trump prepares to address the convention on Saturday evening.

During a nearly hourlong address at the Libertarian National Convention at the Washington Hilton, Kennedy laid into Trump repeatedly on what he cast as civil liberties violations during the pandemic — an important issue for Libertarians — while rarely mentioning President Joe Biden.

Kennedy said that Trump “caved into bureaucrats” after signing off on stay-at-home orders during the Covid-19 pandemic, and blamed the former president for shutting down millions of businesses, mask mandates, travel restrictions and a slew of other attacks on individual liberties during his time in office.

“With lock down, mask mandates, the travel restrictions, President Trump presided over the greatest restriction on individual liberties this country has ever known,” Kennedy added, while also mentioning Trump’s role in wireless surveillance programs, Operation Warp Speed and shutting down churches.

"President Trump looks forward to addressing the Libertarian Convention on Saturday, where he will share his vision for a free and more prosperous America," said Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign. "Crooked Joe Biden and Radical Leftist RFK Jr. both believe in increasing the size of the federal bureaucracy, higher taxes, and infringing upon the rights of law-abiding, freedom-loving citizens."

The verbal barbs from Kennedy came only moments after Libertarian delegates came to blows over Trump's — and Kennedy's — speaking invites on the floor of the convention hall.

Delegates have been sharply divided over the invitation of the Republican nominee and the independent candidate to prominent speaking slots at the national convention. Several said they disagreed with Trump and Kennedy's policy positions and tried to make a motion to rescind the invites — leading to a verbal and physical altercation.

To add to the opposition to Trump, other Libertarians attending the event said they planned to protest Trump’s speech on Saturday evening.

Much of Kennedy’s speech broadly touched on the history of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and his attacks on Trump were relatively well received.

“He got rolled by his bureaucrats,” said Kennedy, winning applause. “He caved in, and many of our most fundamental rights practically disappeared overnight.”

As he went along with his attacks, Kennedy name-checked amendment after amendment, frequently winning cheers from Libertarians.

“The only amendment that did not come under attack during the Covid-19 pandemic was the second amendment,” Kennedy said.

But Kennedy won the biggest cheers of the evening and a standing ovation when he attacked Trump over his refusal to pardon Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is accused of leaking U.S. government secrets.

“He should be celebrated as a hero,” said Kennedy. “He shouldn’t be in prison, we should have a monument to him in Washington D.C. ... I’m gonna do what President Trump should have done on his first day in office. I’m going to pardon Edward Snowden and drop all charges against Julian Assange.”

In February, Kennedy first promised to pardon Assange and also promised to issue an executive order to end attempts by federal agencies to censor the political speech of Americans.

Though Kennedy rarely mentioned Biden in his speech, Kennedy did criticize the president for mandating vaccines and accused him of orchestrating government intervention to control the flow of information on social media. One attendee said he was open to Kennedy's message.

“He wants to tear down the deep state,” said Dustin Richwine, 35, who was wearing a Kennedy shirt outside the convention hall on Friday. Richwine, a Pennsylvania voter, said he had supported Libertarian candidates and Trump in the past, but thought voting for the Libertarian Party nominee this time around would amount to throwing his vote away.

“I think he has the right instincts on medical freedom in particular,” he said of Kennedy.