RFK Jr. says both parties using Jan. 6 to ‘pour fuel on the fire’ of US divisions

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to clarify his stance on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, saying he believes both the Democratic and Republican parties are equally at fault for fanning the flames of partisanship over the issue, as scrutiny grows over the independent candidate’s views on the subject.

“Both establishment parties are using J6 to pour fuel on the fire of America’s divisions,” Kennedy said in a Friday statement. “Each side claims that a victory by their opponents means the end of democracy. Then, anything is justified to stop them.”

“We run the risk of destroying democracy in order to save it,” he said. 

Kennedy, an independent presidential candidate polling as high as in the double digits, appeared to be addressing a wave of controversies around his position toward the Capitol attack. 

He faced widespread criticism from Democrats after a fundraising email sent to supporters described those involved in the insurrection as “activists.” In the email blast, Kennedy said they had been “stripped of their Constitutional liberties.”

Democrats — who have spent the 2024 election rallying against former President Trump over the 2021 riot — seized on the wording, which Kennedy’s campaign spokesperson Stephanie Spear said this week was made in “error” and it did not meet the campaign’s usual standards before being sent out.

The pile-on prompted Kennedy to issue a statement Friday more broadly detailing his views about the January attack, calling it “one of the most polarizing topics on the political landscape.”

“I want to hear every side,” he wrote. “It is quite clear that many of the January 6 protestors broke the law in what may have started as a protest but turned into a riot. Because it happened with the encouragement of President Trump, and in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him, many people see it not as a riot but as an insurrection.”

Kennedy has gotten heat recently for also implying President Biden could be seen as posing a “much worse threat to democracy” than Trump. The Capitol insurrection happened after Trump refused to concede that he lost the 2020 election to Biden, leading to mass chaos and injuries. 

“Listen, I can make the argument that President Biden is a much worse threat to democracy, and the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech, to censor his opponent,” Kennedy said in a recent appearance on CNN.

On Friday, in his email to supporters, Kennedy expanded on the theme further.

“I have not examined the evidence in detail, but reasonable people, including Trump opponents, tell me there is little evidence of a true insurrection. They observe that the protestors carried no weapons, had no plans or ability to seize the reins of government, and that Trump himself had urged them to protest ‘peacefully,’” he wrote.

Kennedy’s views are particularly upsetting to Democrats who see his campaign effort as benefiting Trump’s chances of winning a second White House term.