The televised town hall interview has become a staple of the presidential campaign coverage cycle—so much so that CNN even covered it. Donald Trump opportunity to speak directly to millions of viewers last month. Trump’s town hall has turned into a “scene of lies,” according to CNN’s own media critic, as the former president reiterates his conspiracy theories about the “rigged” 2020 election. mocked his accuser of sexual assault and lying about abortion laws. Since then, CNN town hall with Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, And Mike Pence noticeably less scenes. Although it seems that the position of the network under the former CEO Chris Licht (who lost a lot of internal support after Trump town hall, left CNN shortly after) gave the chance to any presidential candidate at town hall, at least one at CNN seemed to is hoping for a recalculation when it comes to another conspiracy -candidate hawk: Longtime Democratic presidential candidate and anti-vaccine fanatic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“[Kennedy] spreading dangerous misinformation about childhood vaccines,” Jake Tapper, CNN’s chief correspondent in Washington, says Pod Save America this week, confirmed that he would not hold a town hall with Kennedy. Tapper recalls a 2005 interview he gave Kennedy about an anti-vaccination article Kennedy wrote for Salon and Rolling Stone that year (both publications have since retracted the articles because of profound inaccuracies). “He was very dishonest during that experience,” Tapper said, “and since then, he has frequently lied about the experience as an example of how Big Pharma agreed with the media.”
Kennedy in fact interwoven the case into his campaign arguments, told conservative podcaster Jordan Peterson earlier this month, Tapper, who was working for ABC at the time, teamed up with him “for three weeks to make this incredible documentary” — only to watch it get killed by network’s superiors the night before it was broadcast. “[Tapper] Kennedy called me and said, ‘The piece just got killed by the company,'” Kennedy stated. In an editorial on Thursday, Tapper vehemently opposed both of those claims: There was never a documentary made and the actual work—a two-minute stretch that took several days of work. — actually aired. When ABC did the segment, Tapper said, he issued the following disclaimer: “The medical community completely disagreed with Kennedy, who was neither a scientist nor a doctor. They show that autism rates have not decreased, even though thimerosal has been removed from most childhood vaccines as a precaution.” Tapper concluded in his Thursday editorial that, to this day, Kennedy “remains someone you cannot rely on for information, facts, or accuracy.”
It’s not clear if CNN extended the town hall’s offer to Kennedy (CNN did not respond to a request for comment). That’s not to say Kennedy lacked media opportunities; he will be participating in a town hall next week on NewsNation, a small cable news channel. The event will be moderated by Elizaveta Vargas, who spent many years at ABC News as a coach of 20/20 And World news tonight. (Interestingly, it was ABC News that made headlines in April for choosing to correct the false claims Kennedy made about the COVID-19 vaccine during a pre-recorded interview for the network.)
Kennedy also received a lot of love from the right-wing press. “There has never been a presidential candidate more hated by the media than Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” declare Tucker Carlson on the latest episode of his Twitter show. “You think that title goes to Donald Trump… but check the news.” Later in the episode titled “Bobby Kennedy is winning,” Carlson declared Kennedy “the most censored celebrity in the United States,” and attacked “the [media] gatekeepers,” who criticized or refuted the candidate’s anti-vax assertions. In response, Kennedy, son of former US attorney general Bobby Kennedy and grandson of John F. Kennedy, expressed gratitude. “Thanks @TuckerCarlson,” he tweeted. “Grateful.”
