Andrew Allard '25
Executive Editor
While Harvard may have the Obamas, we at UVA have the Kennedys. “You’ve all heard of his family,” the emcee announced as music blared. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’82 strolled on stage, greeted by Alexander Szarka ’24. I had been sitting next to a UVA Law alumnus from the class of ’76. “He’s late,” he grumbled to an usher. “It’s not good to make the electorate wait. That doesn’t make him more important.” The alum told me that he doesn’t think much of Kennedy, but he had made the drive from Richmond “for the history.”
For Kennedy, history is a comfortable topic. Szarka rattled off a list of the Kennedy family’s historic ties to the Law School, pointing out the law library’s shrine to Kennedy’s father, Robert Francis “Bobby” Kennedy ’51, and his uncle Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy ’59’s Lile Moot Court championship title. Kennedy cheerfully responded with a lengthy tale of his father’s efforts to invite Ralph Bunche, the first Black Nobel laureate, to speak at the Law School. Virginia state law in 1951 required public events to be segregated, but the senior Kennedy fought successfully to get Bunche before a desegregated audience.
Twenty minutes in, Szarka appeared poised to throw Kennedy a hardball. “I just want to respectfully disagree, because you talked about how the moral leadership of your uncle [John F. Kennedy] and your father was the supreme achievement of the administration. I think that that’s very important, but I would say that the supreme achievement of the Kennedy administration was averting nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Though beginning with a disclaimer that this was not a campaign event, much of the interview was dedicated to praising Kennedy’s legacy and expounding upon his policy views. The event was dubbed a “Fireside Chat” by the Student Bar Association. Szarka compared Kennedy’s frequent appearances on podcasts with FDR’s use of radio and Trump’s use of X (formerly known as Twitter). Kennedy welcomed the comparison. “I think this election will be the first election that will be heavily influenced, if not decided, by podcasts.”
Bouncing from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, to the war in Gaza, to claims that “deputies of Fauci” are profiting from mRNA vaccines, Kennedy was happy to steer the conversation toward controversy. For many supporters, Kennedy’s unfiltered style is no doubt part of his appeal. It’s also an essential aspect of his politics. Asked about the recent resignation of UPenn president, Liz Magill ’95, Kennedy said that universities ought to be havens for free speech. “We ought to be able to all talk. And that’s critical for democracy.”
Kennedy’s strong pro-speech stance has not saved him from bad blood with the press. He explained that he turned to podcasts because he had been snubbed by TV news. “For years, I’ve not been allowed on the mainstream media, and to this day, they will not allow me to do a live interview. The first one I’m ever going to do is tomorrow morning with Michael Smerconish.” In recent months, Kennedy has appeared on the PBS NewsHour[2] and CNN.[3] But Kennedy said that these were live-to-tape interviews. “Live-to-tape means that they can cut you afterwards, which is what they always do.”
Despite the alleged media blackout, Kennedy claimed that he’s polling quite well, saying that he was leading among Americans forty-five and under in battleground states and for people under thirty-five years old. “And I’m trouncing President Trump and President Biden among the independents, which this year for the first time will be the largest party.” While early presidential polling numbers tend to be dynamic, Kennedy’s favorability rating is among the highest at 52 percent, according to Gallup.[4] But recent national polling data shows Kennedy trailing Biden and Trump at 12 percent.[5]
Kennedy said that he believes his support for affordable housing has caught young voters’ attention. “I think I’m doing well with those groups because I’m talking about issues that particularly concern young people. I’m the only one talking about how to get young people into houses.”
But if Kennedy’s strategy is to capture the youth vote, then his stance on Israel-Palestine could be a problem. While Americans under thirty-five tend to have greater sympathy for Palenstinians,[6] Kennedy downplayed the war in Gaza. “All of this stuff about Israel being an apartheid state is propaganda. Israel has no apartheid goals . . . If you’re a Palestinian, and you want to criticize your government, [then] you’d better be in Israel. You can do it without any recourse. If you do it in Gaza, you’ll have your throat slit. If you do it in the West Bank, you’ll be jailed and tortured.”
Szarka, shifting in his chair, asked Kennedy to “focus a little bit more on the American perspective.” Kennedy demurred. “Why is there a concentration camp? Because Israel put a fence there to keep Hamas from sending terrorists across to kill its people. What country wouldn’t?”
Before leaving, I asked the alum sitting next to me if it was worth the drive from Richmond. “I learned a lot,” he replied.
---
tya2us@virginia.edu
[1] Feeling sorry for Andrew after his thorough defeat before the Court of Petty Appeals, Garrett willingly gave up his dibs claim to the RFK story.
[2] PBS NewsHour, WATCH: RFK Jr. on abortion, immigration, YouTube (Nov. 7, 2023), https://youtu.be/tzisLdj7fjQ?si=erZ6LQs2KOxSDlff.
[3] CNN, CNN anchor confronts RFK Jr. by replaying his comments on vaccines, YouTube (Dec. 15, 2023), https://youtu.be/G4vP4GdHhoA?si=zJJ7d5_YxbqoHZRX.
[4] Lydia Saad, Biden and Trump Evenly Matched in U.S. Favorable Ratings, Gallup (Jan. 9, 2024), https://news.gallup.com/poll/548138/american-presidential-candidates-2024-election-favorable-ratings.aspx.
[5] Matt Holt, Messenger Poll: Trump Leads Biden by Seven Points (Exclusive), The Messenger (Jan. 24, 2024), https://themessenger.com/politics/messenger-poll-trump-leads-biden-by-seven-points-exclusive.
[6] Brittany Gibson, The generational divide over Israel and Palestine is widening, Politico (Nov. 16, 2023), https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/16/israel-palestine-quinnipiac-poll-00127726.