Robert Kennedy Jr. Walks Back National Abortion Ban Comment After Backlash
Aug. 14 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Longshot Democrat presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. attempted to walk back his comment on calling for a nationwide abortion ban, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Kennedy's campaign tried to do damage control and reframe the divisive statement as a misunderstanding.
During a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair, Kennedy was asked about his position on abortions by NBC News reporter Ali Vitali. Kennedy's response was a far cry from Democrat lawmakers who have condemned colleagues across the aisle that pushed for strict abortion bans since the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade in June 2022.
Vitali shared a transcript of the exchange with the presidential candidate on Twitter, which instantly sparked backlash online.
In Iowa, the journalist asked Kennedy, "Would you sign a federal protection to protect the rights that were in the Roe precedent if you were president?" Kennedy responded that he believed a nationwide abortion ban after three months was an ideal solution.
"I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life," Kennedy told Vitali. The reporter pressed for clarification.
"So you would cap it at 15 weeks," the reporter asked, to which Kennedy replied, "Yes."
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Given the divisive nature of abortion-related topics — and voters in deeply conservative states like Ohio showing up in droves to vote against abortion bans — the Kennedy campaign quickly turned to do damage control after the candidate's position went viral.
Reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere shared a statement from his campaign that claimed Kennedy "misunderstood" the NBC journalist's question.
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"Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hail at the Iowa State Fair," the statement read.
The campaign then doubled down, claiming, "Mr. Kennedy’s position on abortion is that it is always the woman’s right to choose," and added that the Democrat "does not support legislation banning abortion."
Unfortunately for Kennedy, the damage was already done.
Kennedy's Iowa State Fair remarks were not the only blunders caught on camera that stained his long-shot campaign.
After years of touting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, a recent video of Kennedy at a dinner party circulated, in which he baselessly claimed COVID was "ethnically targeted" and spared Jewish people.
Despite the remarks being recorded, Kennedy denied the comments and claimed they were taken out of context.
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