Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked former President Trump for his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic when he spoke to the Libertarian Party convention on Friday.
Kennedy argued that the former president and his administration had violated people’s First Amendment rights when they introduced health guidelines to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think he had the right instinct when he took office. Initially he was very reluctant to impose lockdowns, but then he was overwhelmed by his bureaucrats. He gave in and many of our most basic rights disappeared virtually overnight,” Kennedy said at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington.
“President Trump allowed his health officials to mandate science-free social distancing, which undermined our First Amendment right to freedom of assembly. We could no longer peacefully assemble,” he later said.
Kennedy’s comments were one of the strongest statements against Trump yet. Although Kennedy is widely seen as an outsider between Trump and President Biden, recent polls suggest he could spoil Trump’s election in November.
In his speech, Kennedy accused Trump and Biden of violating Americans’ rights and constitutional freedoms and said he would do more to protect people’s freedom of speech and assembly.
Both Kennedy and Trump are scheduled to speak at the conferenceThe former president gave a speech on Saturday.
The Trump administration enacted strict measures early in the pandemic to limit social gatherings, nonessential travel and in-person work as COVID-19 cases and deaths rose. The president and health officials often disagreed on how best to manage the pandemic, including over which facilities could be open or accessible.
Although the president supported reopening churches, states issued their own guidelines, creating a patchwork of different rules to combat COVID-19. This led to different procedures for reopening other establishments, such as businesses and schools.
Anthony Fauci, the former White House chief medical adviser during the pandemic, was frequently targeted by Republicans, including Trump, who believed health authorities were going too far in their health guidelines.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the former president during his own presidential campaign for his handling of the pandemic and for failing to remove Fauci from office.
“President Trump said he would run America like a corporation. And then he came along and handed the keys to all of our corporations to a bureaucrat who has been in office for 50 years, was never elected to any office and has no accountability whatsoever,” Kennedy said, claiming Trump shut down millions of businesses “without due process, without adequate compensation and in violation of the Fifth Amendment.”
“With curfews, mass orders and travel restrictions, President Trump has ordered the greatest restriction of individual freedoms this country has ever seen,” he added.
