{"id":618979,"date":"2024-05-01T05:40:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T02:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/rfk-jr-hires-gop-operative-who-called-jan-6-democrat-misdirection\/"},"modified":"2024-05-01T05:40:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T02:40:31","slug":"rfk-jr-hires-gop-operative-who-called-jan-6-democrat-misdirection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/rfk-jr-hires-gop-operative-who-called-jan-6-democrat-misdirection\/","title":{"rendered":"#RFK Jr. hires GOP operative who called Jan. 6 ‘Democrat misdirection’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign has hired a former top spokesperson to hard-right Republican candidates who has called the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol \u201cDemocrat misdirection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campaign finance records<\/a> show<\/a> Kennedy\u2019s independent campaign first hired Zach Henry\u2019s firm Total Virality for “influencer engagement” in March, two months after Republican Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race for his party’s presidential nomination.\u00a0<\/strong>Henry had been Ramaswamy’s deputy communications director.<\/p>\n

\u201cJ6 was no MAGA insurrection Just more Democrat misdirection,\u201d he posted on X in March 2023<\/a>, seemingly embracing<\/a> the conspiracy theory that the riot was provoked by left-wing antifa agitators, not Donald Trump supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cMentally readying myself for the \u2018I\u2019m having traumatic Jan 6 flashbacks\u2019 from cringe congressional staffers tomorrow,\u201d Henry posted in 2022<\/a> ahead of the annual anti-abortion-rights demonstration in Washington.<\/p>\n

Just over a week later, he called<\/a> the House committee investigation into the attack a \u201cwitch hunt of patriots\u201d that \u201cmust face a reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other posts, he expressed opposition to vaccine mandates and wrote<\/a>, \u201cAlex Jones is a national treasure,\u201d referring to the preeminent conspiracy broadcaster.<\/p>\n

Henry declined to comment, while the Kennedy campaign did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Kennedy’s hire of Henry comes as he has had difficulties attracting experienced political operators from either major party to work for his independent campaign. Henry represents a rare defection from the world of professional politics to the outsider candidate.<\/p>\n

And the people Kennedy has been able to hire have created some recent headaches for his campaign by going off-message \u2014 including on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Kennedy\u2019s campaign disowned a fundraising email<\/a> that lamented how \u201cJ6 activists\u201d were \u201csitting in a Washington DC jail cell strip<\/a>ped of their Constitutional liberties.\u201d Kennedy\u2019s campaign said the email was sent in \u201cerror\u201d by a \u201cmarketing contractor.\u201d<\/p>\n

But subsequent Kennedy statements contained other errors he was forced to address, and the controversy drew attention to his own views on Jan. 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Kennedy has questioned<\/a> “harsh treatment” of Jan. 6 defendants, said he would consider pardoning some and questioned whether it was a true “insurrection.”<\/p>\n

Kennedy <\/a>al<\/a>s<\/a>o s<\/a>aid<\/a> he would app<\/a>oint a special prosecutor to investigate the treatment of those charged with crimes in connection with Jan. 6.<\/p>\n

Both parties have stepped up attacks on Kennedy, fearing he will cost them the election by siphoning votes from their candidate.<\/p>\n

Trump and his allies have increasingly been casting Kennedy as a far-left radical environmentalist, hoping to lock down voters who might be attracted to the populist conspiracy theories both embrace.<\/p>\n

But Democrats have been especially aggressive against Kennedy<\/a>, portraying the ex-Democrat as a stalking horse for Trump and citing his support from some major conservative donors, among other issues, including his rhetoric regarding Jan. 6.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Kennedy campaign fired a New York-based Republican consultant<\/a> after video emerged of her urging GOP voters to consider Kennedy by saying they shared \u201cthe No. 1 priority\u201d of stopping President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n

Henry is part of a young breed of online conservative activists who have seen their stock rise in the GOP alongside\u00a0<\/strong>online influencers and publicity stunts designed to \u201ctrigger\u201d opponents.<\/p>\n

On Ramaswamy\u2019s campaign, he traveled frequently with the candidate and helped manage supportive online influencers, including off-color comedians and controversial YouTube<\/a>rs.<\/p>\n

Before his time with Ramaswamy, Henry served as communications director for Blake Masters\u2019 2022 Senate campaign in Arizona and as a spokesperson for the Arizona GOP and its controversial former chairwoman, Kelli Ward, who was recently among the \u201cfake electors\u201d indicted in Arizona on charges alleging fraud, forgery and conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results.<\/p>\n

All three are libertarian-tinged conservative culture warriors who love to provoke the left. Henry\u2019s recent social media posts express support for Kennedy and disappointment in Trump for embracing the Covid-19 vaccines developed during his presidency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n