People's Party Presidential candidate Cornel West criticized Robert Kennedy Jr. on Thursday while speaking about the Democratic presidential candidate's stance on Israel and Palestine and said, "He needs to really get off the crack pipe."
"You want a presidential candidate, and I think you just want this in any human being, to have backbone, to have integrity, to have consistency, not to check what you deeply believe after you've had some dialogue or discourse with a group of people or community that's going to be shaping and molding how you perceive the world," West said while speaking on the Bad Faith Pod. "If he [Kennedy Jr.] thinks somehow that each [Palestinian] baby who was killed somehow was never in any way, intentional, deliberate, they didn't know what they were doing...he needs to really get off the crack pipe."
The comments by West come shortly after Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) faced some criticism for expressing support for former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters, who has widely expressed his distaste for Israel and shown support for Palestine.
Shortly after, Kennedy Jr. deleted his tweet and when asked about it he said, "I made the tweet applauding Roger Waters' courage in opposing the Covid mandates and the Ukraine war. I was unaware of his position on Israel. And when I learned that I immediately took it down."
"I support Israel. My family has a long relationship with Israel and supporting its right to exist and its right to protect its security," Kennedy Jr. said.
When asked about Palestine, Kennedy Jr. said, "And a humane outcome and a recognition ultimately of the aspirations of the Palestinian people is important for everybody."
In April, Kennedy Jr. announced his plan to run for the presidency as a Democratic candidate after he was previously criticized for promoting anti-vaccine theories and opinions.
"I am not an ideal presidential candidate...I'm not one of these people who said I have to be careful because one day I'm going to be in the White House," Kennedy Jr. said announcing his bid. "My mission over the next 18 months of this campaign and throughout my presidency will be to end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power that is threatening now to impose a new kind of corporate feudalism in our country."
Earlier this month, West announced his bid for presidency as a candidate with the People's Party, saying in an announcement, "I enter for the quest for truth. I enter for the quest of justice. And the presidency is just one vehicle we pursue that truth and justice."
Kennedy Jr.'s campaign told Newsweek they had no comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
