Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put aside headlines about his relationship with a journalist 40 years his junior to introduce Donald Trump at a campaign event in Michigan on Friday.
And it was exactly the wild ride one might expect from a man whose presidential campaign included stories about dumping dead bears in Central Park, brain worms, and cutting off a whale’s head.
He warned about falling sperm counts in teenagers, gave a no-nonsense account of Trump’s meeting with the Ukrainian president, and was interrupted by a phone call from his doctor.
The 70-year-old, who pushed anti-vax conspiracy theories, accused the Democratic Party of siding with Big Pharma, Big Ag and Big Food.
“When my uncle was president, we didn’t spend anything on chronic diseases,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put aside headlines about his relationship with Olivia Nuzzi, a reporter 40 years his junior, to introduce Donald Trump at an event in Michigan on Friday.
‘Now we spend 4.3 trillion dollars and our children are so sick that 77% do not qualify for military service.
‘Our fertility levels have fallen to the lowest in the world. Today’s teenagers have 50 percent of the sperm count, 50 percent of the testosterone as American teenagers of two generations ago.
“Girls now reach puberty at age eight, because all the estrogen is generated by poisons and toxic foods.”
It was familiar territory for a politician who rose to fame as an environmental lawyer.
For the past week he has dodged questions about a sexting scandal involving Olivia Nuzzi, a 31-year-old reporter who profiled him for New York magazine.
She has been placed on leave while editors investigate.
RFK Jr. reportedly bragged to his friends about receiving intimate photographs from Nuzzi.
And his wife of 10 years, actress Cheryl Hines, was seen without her wedding ring amid the fallout.
Olivia Nuzzi has been placed on leave while New York magazine investigates the relationship
The event in Kent County, Michigan, is designed to highlight Trump’s economic policies.
Trump took the stage after Kennedy’s presentation. ‘He’s a good man,’ Trump said
Kennedy himself has avoided talking about the relationship, except through friends who claimed that the journalist was pursuing him.
“I never comment on those kinds of stories,” he told Fox News this week.
He ended his own presidential run last month and endorsed Trump.
On Friday, he warmed up a crowd waiting for the former president at the loading dock of a Michigan manufacturing plant.
He referred to his uncle JFK’s presidency, drawing parallels between the Cuban missile crisis and current tensions with Russia.
And he spoke of Trump’s diplomatic skills after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
“He was kind and civil to President Zelensky, but also firm in his resolve, saying, ‘I’ve had a pleasant meeting, but I haven’t changed my mind,'” he said.
Trump has made clear that he wants to end the conflict before the United States spends more money supporting Ukraine.
“And it was especially impressive to me, because I know what Donald Trump was thinking while he was having that meeting,” Kennedy continued.
“I was thinking, ‘I want to turn this guy over, grab him by the legs and take all the money out of his pockets.’ And I hope it’s $208 billion because that’s what we get.”
“That’s what the Democrats gave them, and we need to bring that money home and spend it here in our communities.”
But he had clearly forgotten to silence his phone.
At one point he took it out of his pocket and apologized to the crowd. “Sorry about the call from my doctor,” he said, while rejecting the call to laughter from the audience.
Trump paid tribute to Kennedy in his speech.
“He has great ideas,” she said. ‘And getting a Kennedy to endorse a Trump Republican was a big deal, right?
“He’s a good man.”