Dead Kennedys
QAnon was targeting the wrong member of the Kennedy clan
It’s easy to laugh at the QAnon folks who showed up at Dealey Plaza last week not only expecting the notably dead JFK, Jr. to speak but also to endorse Donald Trump. But Jack Hughes found a scary and more realistic corner of the political basement in the Kennedy compound where Trump might thrive: RFK, Jr.
by Jack Hughes
This week several hundred people gathered in Dallas to witness the second coming of John F. Kennedy, Jr. As Steven Monacelli detailed in a series of surreal ‘on scene’ real-time tweets and, later, in the virtual pages of Rolling Stone magazine, true believers from across the country gathered in the place where John F. Kennedy, Sr. was assassinated to hear his son proclaim that Donald Trump won the 2020 election.
In truth, there were different opinions about what was supposed to happen. It seems that most believed that JFK Jr. would appear, by himself, and confirm that Trump was America’s one true President. Others appear to have believed that JFK, Jr. was going to announce that he was running as Trump’s running mate in 2024. And, lastly, some seemed to think that both JFK, Jr. and his father were going to endorse Trump.
What everyone seemed to agree on was that it was going to go down in Dealey Plaza, where President Kennedy was shot on November 22, 1963, and, more specifically, that JFK, Jr., would address the assembled crowd standing on the infamous grassy knoll – the spiritual Mecca of conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination for almost six decades. There was a twisted logic to it, albeit with logistical obstacles.
First and foremost, both Kennedys – father and son – belong in the pantheon of proud Democrats. As such, it strains credulity to think that either of them would come out to endorse Donald Trump or seek elected office on his Republican ticket. Second, but equally important, they’re both dead. President Kennedy was, as noted, felled by an assassin during his first term and JFK, Jr. died in a tragic plane crash in 1999.
(As an aside, had JFK and JFK, Jr. come forward for Trump it wouldn’t have been the first totally bonkers endorsement of the GOP by dead Kennedys this year. Back in January, the official twitter account of the iconic 1970s San Fransisco punk rock band the Dead Kennedys sent out a message supporting Republican Senator Mitt Romney – a move that original lead singer Jello Biafra called “dumb and clueless.”)
Second, but equally important, they’re both dead.
Back to Novembers in Dallas, wild theories about how JFK, Sr. was killed, and by whom, have been central to populist cults and popular culture from the moment it happened to the present day. Just two weeks ago, in a move that fueled conspiratorial fires, President Biden broke his promise to release all of the remaining government records about the Kennedy assassination citing COVID delays and national security.
Among those most angered by the POTUS postponement was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the late Senator Bobby Kennedy’s son and President Kennedy’s nephew, who told Politico: “It’s an outrage. It’s an outrage against American democracy. We’re not supposed to have secret governments within government,” adding, “How the hell is it 58 years later, and what in the world could justify not releasing these documents?”
RFK, Jr.’s comments questioning how the release of the documents could still pose an identifiable threat to national security after all these years aren’t that unreasonable, but what really stands out is his ‘secret governments within government’ talk – which, let’s face it, sounds suspiciously like something you’d hear from someone you might see loitering around Dealey Plaza at lunch on Tuesday waiting for his deceased cousin.
This was the second time in almost as many months that RFK, Jr. raised eyebrows in political assassination conspiracy circles. Many were shocked that he successfully supported the release of Sirhan Sirhan, the man many saw murder his father in the moments after Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. won the 1968 California Democratic Primary. In fact, RFK Jr. has said for years he doesn’t believe Sirhan was RFK, Sr.’s assassin.
RFK, Jr.’s comments sounds suspiciously like something you’d hear from someone you might see loitering around Dealey Plaza.
To be clear, RFK Jr. has had a fairly surprising story arc. He was a highly respected environmentalist for more than three decades serving as the senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and board member for Riverkeeper Alliance. But, back in 2005, he began to court controversy by suggesting some vaccines cause autism. His vaccine skepticism has only become sharper throughout this pandemic.
All of which brings us full circle, albeit by way of a curiously circuitous route. The rationale for the QAnon conspiracy theory about the return of JFK, Jr., who they believe has been in hiding, is a little murky – specifically as to why he would be the chosen one to lead a pro-Trump revolution. Not only would he have to be, you know, not dead, but he’d effectively have to disavow all of his known beliefs and principles.
RFK, Jr., on the other hand, shares some of the unconventional convictions espoused by certain Trump supporters with the added and not inconsiderable advantage that he’s alive. Had RFK Jr. gone to Dealey Plaza and simply told the assembled crowd what he genuinely believes about social media censorship, secret government, Joe Biden, and vaccines he’d have become a prohibitive Republican frontrunner in 2024.
Not only would JFK Jr. have to be, you know, not dead, but he’d effectively have to disavow all of his known beliefs.
Yes, he’s called Trump a bully, but that’s not half as bad as things Republicans have said and recanted. (Trump was going to name him his vaccine czar until, Kennedy suspects, industry “got to him.”) And while part of the great Democrat dynasty, he’s not a ‘riverkeeper’ of the party mainstream. Among other fringe views, he says he’s most closely aligned with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s Trumpian foreign policy.
A generation ago, the Republican establishment would’ve been thrilled if a member of the Kennedy clan sailed starboard from Hyannis Port to Kennebunkport. In 2001, President George W. Bush sought to cement his ‘compassionate conservative’ creds by partnering with Liberal Lion Senator Ted Kennedy on education reform. Kennedy son-in-law Arnold Schwarzenegger was a proud Republican Governor of California.
Even with an upset victory in Virginia and a much closer than expected showing in New Jersey, the Republican Party is still facing an identity crisis of confidence. It’s far from clear whether a Kennedy – dead or alive – would be welcomed with open arms. Still, the silver lining is every minute we’re talking about John F. Kennedy, Jr. or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a minute that we’re not talking about Donald Trump, Jr.
Jack Hughes is a communications consultant based in Canada. His previous contributions to The Experiment include “Same of Thrones,” “Tippecanoe and Agnew Anew,” “Harris / Shuri 2020,” “Bidenfeld,” “Firth and Firthiness,” “The Ballot of Bill McKay,” and “The World Wants ‘The West Wing,’” among others. His inexplicably extensive writings on Dan Quayle are “The Unusual Suspect,” “The Unusual Suspect II,” “The GOPfather,” “Porqua, CoQau?”, “Quayle’s Hunting Season” and “I Told You So.” Connect with him on LinkedIn here.
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