Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke out against the COVID lockdown policies during his fiery Wednesday speech announcing his run for president.
The environmental activist and lawyer criticized the government’s handling of the pandemic, particularly its restrictions on personal freedoms, arguing that Democracy was “abolished” by totalitarian policies, while also touching on the widespread censorship involved.
“Not only did we start censoring people at the very, very beginning,” Kennedy said, “If you give a government license to silence its critics, it now has license for any atrocity.”
JUST IN: Robert Kennedy is out for blood as he announces his run for president.
“This is what happens when you censor somebody for 18 years. I got a lot to talk about. They shouldn’t have shut me up for that long because now I’m really going to let loose on them for the next 18… pic.twitter.com/XBZrmO0n3i
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 19, 2023
He added, “Democracy was simply abolished. They then went after freedom of assembly.”
Kennedy also pointed out that the government’s restrictions on religious gatherings were a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of worship. “They closed every church in this country without any scientific citation for a year, without any notice and comment rule-making,” he said.
RFK Jr. also criticized the government’s actions in regard to property rights, business closures, and the suspension of jury trials.
“They closed 3.3 million businesses with no due process, no just compensation. They got rid of Seventh Amendment jury trials,” he said. “And here’s what the Seventh Amendment says. It says no American shall be deprived the right of a trial before a jury of his peers in cases or controversies exceeding $25. Well, there’s no pandemic exception.”
WATCH:
RFK JR on Covid lockdowns:
“If you give a government a license to silence its critics, it now has license for any atrocity.”pic.twitter.com/xNr3peXYeo
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 19, 2023
Kennedy argued that the Constitution was built for hard times, and that the government’s response to the pandemic violated the core principles of American democracy.
“The Constitution was built during the Civil War. There were 659,000 soldiers who died in the Civil War. That’s the equivalent of 7,200,000 today. Our country was this close from falling apart,” he said.
Kennedy hit on former President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic during the speech as well, blaming him for some policies, while praising Trump for having “the right instincts” about full-blown lockdowns.
WATCH:
Robert Kennedy Jr on Covid measures under Trump:
“He had the right instincts, he knew that he shouldn’t have closed down the country. But he did it. He got rolled by his bureaucracy.”pic.twitter.com/YjaYSMYSJ5
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 19, 2023
