RFK Jr.'s Speech Gets Roaring Applause After Dems Attempt to Stop Him From Testifying
In a paradoxical House session Thursday, worthy of an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” House Democrats desperately tried to censor Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s speech at a meeting intended to address censorship and targeting concerns.
Kennedy, who is running for president against President Joe Biden, was invited by Republicans to testify at the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
During the hearing, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz moved to take the hearing into executive session due to Kennedy’s alleged “antisemitic and anti-Asian comments.”
House Democrats voted to censor RFK Jr during a hearing on censorship at which he was invited to speak pic.twitter.com/tsw8ETMydL
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 20, 2023
Democrats also attempted to limit Kennedy’s speaking time, questioning why he should be given 10 minutes when witnesses usually receive five minutes.
🔥 Rep. @Jim_Jordan Just Publicly Humiliated Stacey Plaskett’s Hostility Towards RFK Jr.
PLASKETT: “Excuse me, point of order. I know that witnesses usually have five minutes. I see 10 minutes on the board. Is it going to be 10 minutes?”
JORDAN: “Five minutes, but we’re pretty… pic.twitter.com/jBnXbyFuqI
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) July 20, 2023
Schultz’s attempt to halt the hearing and transition to an executive session ended in a 10-8 defeat, owing to the Republican majority within the committee. During the vote, several Democrats uttered phrases like “no to hate speech” as they opposed the GOP’s efforts to reject Schultz’s motion.
In his remarks, Kennedy criticized the Democrats’ efforts to censor his speech and his run for the White House.
🚨RFK Jr. gives his opening statement before the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, gets ROARING applause
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 20, 2023
Testifying in front of Congress, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleges big tech censorship over his vaccine views.
MORE: https://t.co/FLGYoZ3Xhh #MorningInAmerica pic.twitter.com/f0yBdSX40g
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) July 20, 2023
“This itself is evidence of the problem that this hearing was convened to address,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said that YouTube censored his speech announcing his candidacy five minutes in, even though he didn’t talk about vaccines in that speech.
“Debate — congenial, respectful debate is the fertilizer, it’s the water, it’s the sunlight for our democracy,” he said.
Kennedy waved a letter signed by 102 “fellow Democrats” to keep him from being able to speak, calling it an attempt to “censor a censorship hearing.”
“Censorship is antithetical to our party,” Kennedy said. “It was appalling to my father, to my uncle, to FDR, to Harry Truman, to Thomas Jefferson, as the chairman referred to. It is the basis for democracy.”
Kennedy said that they had to invent a new word — “malinformation” to censor people like him because there was no misinformation on his platform. “Everything I put on that account was cited and sourced,” he said.
He defined “malinformation,” as information that is true, but inconvenient to the government.
Kennedy’s organization, Children’s Health Defense, has filed a lawsuit against various news organizations, including The Associated Press, for alleged antitrust violations related to their actions to identify COVID-19 misinformation, NewsNation reported.
Kennedy also defended himself against attacks that he was racist or anti-Semitic, citing his pro-Israel record and reminding the House that he was the only person who spoke out against the Biden administration’s $2 billion payout to Iran, which he called a “genocidal program.”
Kennedy’s appearance at the hearing reflected ongoing debates over free speech and censorship in the context of social media platforms and online information dissemination.
Some groups had requested that he be disinvited from the hearing due to recent remarks labeled as antisemitic.
But Kennedy’s opening remarks ended with a tone of hope. “We have to stop trying to destroy each other!” he said. He asked Americans to find a place inside themselves of light, empathy and compassion.
“And above all,” Kennedy said, “we need to elevate the Constitution of the United States, which was written for hard times, and that has to be the premier compass for all of our activities.”
Kennedy’s speech received roaring applause in the House. Regardless of his party, it was impossible not to be moved by the impassioned plea for a return to civility and for the need to uphold the First Amendment.
RFK Jr.’s testimony on censorship was met by applause in the chamber.
MORE: https://t.co/FLGYoZ3Xhh #MorningInAmerica pic.twitter.com/QicrtMoZzr
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) July 20, 2023
In these trying times, most Americans will take sanity wherever they get it, and Kennedy’s speech was a simple call to stop the madness, which will likely resonate with many.
Which is probably why the Democrats were so hell-bound on stopping him.
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