Lea Feiger: Well, Eric Clapton…
Ana Merlán: It makes sense.
Lea Feiger: It’s so sad.
Makena Kelly: But Eric Clapton had a great fundraiser. He is able to get-
Lea Feiger: Alicia Silverstone.
Makena Kelly: I know.
Lea Feiger: That’s the one you told me and that made me especially sad. I can’t re-
Ana Merlán: Well, she’s been involved in anti-vaccine activism since at least 2015.
Lea Feiger: Yes, that was new to me. I’ll be honest, that was new to me. It’s obviously not new to you, like all of our vaccine conspiracy experts here. But can I watch Clueless the same way again? I don’t know. I do not think. I do not think so.
Makena Kelly: Yeah, celebrities really have that macro influence that allows them to help spread their name and things like that. Then you see that the PAC, of ​​course, reaches out to these fitness influencers, targeting micro influencers who have that direct relationship of engagement. The campaign is really focused on reaching people from all walks of life and then at a smaller level, engaging them and activating them to vote.
Lea Feiger: Well well. What does all this add up to? Family conspiracies, money, celebrity fundraising, podcasts, conspiracies. Where is this campaign headed from now on? Could your candidacy really make a difference? Which states are you actually eligible to apply in?
Makena Kelly: The campaign has reported that it has gathered enough signatures to be on a handful of ballots in states such as Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire and Utah. He also claims he is on the ballots in North Carolina and Arizona. At least three major states in contention for this election.
Lea Feiger: He just added Iowa last weekend, the campaign says. I guess to clarify, this is what your campaign says, this is what the Super PAC says. Actually, we don’t know for sure. Could your candidacy really make a difference? Ana, what do you think?
Ana Merlán: This has been the argument since the beginning of his candidacy. For whom will it make a difference? He’s not going to be president, I feel pretty safe saying that. So the argument is: is it going to attract more votes from the Trump side or the Biden side? I would say that anyone who makes one of those statements with confidence is probably overconfident. I think it will probably attract votes from both sides of the aisle.
But when he announced his candidacy I wrote that his candidacy is above all an announcement for himself. It’s an ad for himself, his anti-vaccine activism, and Children’s Health Defense. Whatever the effect on the election or the vote, it will infinitely more affect his public image and his ability to raise funds for other causes once he is no longer campaigning.
Lea Feiger: I don’t know, Ana. I think I have to disagree a little. I think RFJ Jr.’s campaign will only help Trump. When we look at polls of Trump voters and Biden voters, Trump voters are engaged. They are willing to vote for Trump for another term. Biden voters are a little less so. This is a very unpopular choice overall. There are plenty of voters, independent, Biden or not, who can overlook RFJ Jr.’s confusing conspiratorial past. If it’s not being discussed much in the media right now, which unfortunately it’s not, then it’s an easy way forward and say, “I hate these two options, I’m going to go with this one, I’m going to make a statement.” It really doesn’t take that many votes to have a big impact, especially in the states Kennedy is trying to get on the ballot. I’m very nervous about how this might turn out.