Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is accusing the Democratic National Committee and the progressive group MoveOn.org of hiring protesters to hold up disparaging signs at an event he spoke at on Saturday at Union Station in Los Angeles.
“One of the protesters was carrying a sign shaming me for attacking COVID vaccines. One of our staffers asked if he took the vaccine, and he said, ‘Hell no.’ ” Kennedy told Newsweek. “The DNC, by way of MoveOn, is paying big money to hire protesters.”
Amaryllis Fox, Kennedy’s daughter-in-law and campaign manager, told Newsweek that campaign staffers asked protesters if they were paid to be there, and they answered in the affirmative. She says that when the protesters were shown a photo of Kennedy, none recognized him.
MoveOn spokesman Joel Payne denied the allegations, telling Newsweek: “MoveOn is not familiar with and did not hire the protesters at the RFK Jr. event.” He also called the allegations a “conspiracy theory.”
Payne also said that he is not surprised that protesters show up to Kennedy’s events, and those of his vice presidential pick, Nicole Shanahan, partly to make the case that his supporters are helping Trump.
Fox shared photos of the protesters, most of whom obscure their faces, and told Newsweek that one of them said he took the money because he is homeless.
“The DNC’s dirty tricks department is undermining the proud tradition of honest protesting,” Fox said.
Courtesy of Amaryllis Fox
Asked for evidence that MoveOn might be behind the effort, Fox showed Newsweek screen shots of what she called an online help-wanted ad that she says was changed after she viewed it. The original ad she said referenced an “anti-RFK Jr.” effort and referred to “in-person organizing” and “bird-dogging” to counter “third-party threats.”
She says the new ad makes no reference to MoveOn, Kennedy or “bird-dogging.” MoveOn declined to comment on the ad.
“Bird-dogging is Democrat-speak for harassment, dirty tricks and trolling,” Fox said.
Kennedy, whose campaign could be a threat to President Joe Biden’s reelection hopes if he siphons more votes from him than he does from Republican challenger Donald Trump, told Newsweek the effort to derail his campaign also includes online trolls from Pakistan and Nigeria who pretend to be American voters.
He said posts from those users on X, all of which use similar language, often make their way to the comments on posts by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The DNC did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment about paid protesters or online trolls, which Kennedy claims is part of the effort to remove his name from state ballots.
In February, the DNC filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission accusing the Kennedy campaign of a “ballot access scheme.”
The issue involves the DNC alleging that the American Values 2024 Super Pac is gathering signatures in battleground states to put Kennedy on ballots while some states require the candidate and his campaign be the ones to do so. American Values said its effort to get Kennedy on ballots in 12 states is independent of the Kennedy campaign and is not illegal.
“President Biden has raised $1.1 billion for his campaign and intends to raise $3 billion, but he’s not using the money to amplify his own voice but to get his opponents off the ballot,” Kennedy said.
“I’m no fan of Trump, but I want to beat him on a level playing field and the current Democratic party is fighting to make sure people can’t vote for the candidate they want, be it Trump, Cornel West, No Labels or me,” Kennedy added.
“They’re complaining about Vladimir Putin getting 88 percent of the vote because he was basically the only one on the ballot, and they want to do the same thing here.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.