2024 Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aka RFK Jr., is the latest guest to join ‘The Jason Lee Show,’ where he talks about his opponents, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Project 2025, Black voters, and the deaths of his father, former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Sr., aka RFK Sr., and uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, aka JFK.
For the first time in Hollywood Unlocked‘s history, its founder and host of ‘The Jason Lee Show,’ Jason Lee, is interviewing a candidate running to be the President of the United States of America. During the historic sit-down, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aka RFK Jr., shares his political views, reflects on his family’s legacy in politics and civil rights, and much more.
Following his family’s political and philanthropic footsteps, RFK Jr. entered the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat in 2023. However, he quickly changed to the Independent Party, telling host Jason Lee all about the “60 different rules” the Democratic Party created to keep him from winning the nomination.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his campaign manager at the time told him that the Democrats would never allow him to compete fairly, which Kennedy claimed is because the Democrats are being run by corporations, as with the Republicans. He said, “The Democrats forgot about their relationship with labor. They used to be labor-oriented and they’ve become completely corporate.”
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleged, “The Democrats made 60 different rule changes to make sure I could not win. They pretended that I didn’t exist and passed all of these rules. So, I changed to Independent, and then they tried to make that impossible for me to win, passing more rules and trying to sue me.”
Kennedy also talked about President Joe Biden and his administration waiting until the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump to give him a secret service detail during the 2024 race. RFK Jr. said before this, he was shelling out millions a month for his own security and even with his own protection he was still experiencing death threats and attempts made on his life.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. detailed several scary encounters of attempts being made on his life and his house being broken into, even explaining that a man who nearly breached his security with premeditated plans to harm him was arrested and let go by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Despite this incident, he said the current administration in the White House still denied him secret service agents. When asked why Biden neglected to help protect him, Kennedy said, “It made me think President Joe Biden isn’t making these calls; someone else is making them. The guy I knew for 40 years seemed to be a pretty decent man and would do the right thing, but maybe it’s the people around him.”
In addition to briefly speaking on Trump’s assassination attempt, RFK Jr. also shares his thoughts and theories on the assassinations of his father, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., and his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy. In both incidents, Kennedy believes the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) was behind the murders, and even the mob. Despite his family’s history of political assassinations and his beliefs on them being CIA/mob-related, RFK Jr. says he still chooses to stand tall for the people and make sacrifices for democracy.
In the interview, RFK Jr. speaks on his various political views and dispels a few controversial comments and theories pinned on him, like his thoughts about vaccines and being called “an anti-vaxxer,” a title he claims does not accurately fit him.
During the interview, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reflects on his family’s legacy and historical involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, his own strides to eliminate environmental injustice and systemic oppression, and more. Kennedy tells Lee the significance of his appearance on ‘The Jason Lee Show‘ and speaking to the Black community. He said, “The Black community has always been important to me, and historically for my family — who was deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement. Like my father, who was Attorney General during a key time in history, and my uncle, JFK, who ran for president around the time Martin Luther King, Jr. was put in jail in Alabama after a lunch counter demonstration.”
RFK Jr. further explained, “Corretta [Scott King] was scared and called Richard Nixon [who had a close relationship with MLK Jr.]. However, he didn’t want to get involved because it was so close to election time. The King family never forgave him for that. The King family called my uncle and my father opposed him getting involved, initially believing it would be damaging. Then he realized it was important to get involved.”
RFK Jr. said his father then called the local Sheriff and Judge and told them that his uncle would become president and prosecute everyone involved if anything happened to MLK Jr. while in custody. He explained that his uncle also called the judge and the Governor, but they claimed they couldn’t do anything. However, with enough sternness in JFK’s voice, the Governor eventually had MLK Jr. freed; and because of JFK’s actions, MLK Jr’s father changed his endorsement from Nixon to JFK.
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Kennedy said, “The Black vote put my uncle over the top in that election, one of the narrowest elections in history. He won because of the Black vote and my family began to understand the injustice of Jim Crow.” He added that his family would continue to help the Black community by integrating them into different colleges and universities and helping support Black people in other Civil Rights initiatives, which RFK Jr. followed.
RFK Jr. also spoke with Lee about the Black vote being tossed back and forth between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris like a ping-pong ball. He was also asked if he believes Donald Trump to be a racist. He replied, “I wouldn’t characterize him as a racist. It is a very loaded term and has a large spectrum of meanings. I don’t name-call. It’s one of the worst things you can say about someone. I’m trying to bridge the divide and find the values that we share in common.” RFK Jr. added, “Both Democrats and Republicans have contributed to the polarization of the races.”
Kennedy briefly mentioned Donald Trump’s recent viral appearance at the Chicago convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), at which he came for Kamala Harris’ ethnicity, past governmental work, and views on policies. In general, RFK Jr. said, “What former President Trump did in front of the Black journalists this week was a huge missed opportunity.” Kennedy further claimed, “I think Kamala is vulnerable on a lot of issues and issues affecting Black Americans. It would’ve been better for him, politically, to focus on those issues, especially prison reform, the school-to-prison pipeline, her record as Attorney General, etc.”
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While continuing to speak on Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also addressed their views and commitments to the Black community. He further shared his thoughts on whether or not America has a race problem and if he ever sees Black Americans receiving reparations.
RFK Jr. also briefly addressed the controversy over the leak of his phone call with Trump, and if he would quit the campaign to join Trump as his Vice President. He was also asked if he would be interested in becoming Harris’ VP, to which he replied, “No. it’s the worst job in Washington.” He suggested that the job is very restrictive unless you’re really close to the President.
RFK Jr. shared his thoughts on Project 2025 as well, claiming for the most part, “I think that it’s a horror show.” He noted that although the “health-based stuff is good,” he admitted, “The rest is really terrifying. It’s transforming democracy to fascism.”
#Socialites, be sure to check out the full episode below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after!