On a recent episode of his popular podcast “Club Random,” renowned political commentator Bill Maher took a strong stand against the New York Times for what he deemed as biased reporting on Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
During the episode, Maher, who had Kennedy as his guest, addressed an article published by the New York Times that focused on Kennedy’s ideas and conversations with Elon Musk. Maher expressed his frustration with the newspaper’s approach, stating, “I want to take issue with the media because it incenses me how they write about you.”
Quoting directly from the New York Times article titled “In Chat With Musk, Kennedy Pushes Right-Wing Ideas and Misinformation,” Maher voiced his immediate discontent, saying, “Right away I’m pissed off. Because, of misinformation? How about you’re the newspaper. Just tell me what was said, and I’ll decide what’s misinformation. This arrogance of ‘we know what the misinformation is about science.'”
Maher’s criticism shed light on what he perceived as the New York Times’ presumptive attitude, suggesting that the newspaper’s coverage of Kennedy was slanted and did not provide an unbiased representation of the interview. Maher argued that it was the readers’ responsibility to evaluate the information presented and form their own opinions rather than being told what to think.
This incident underscores the ongoing debate surrounding media objectivity and the responsibility of journalists to present information in a fair and balanced manner. As Kennedy continues his presidential campaign, the way his views and interactions are portrayed in the media will undoubtedly remain a subject of scrutiny and discussion.
Continuing to read from the article he said, “‘Mr. Kennedy is a long time amplifier and propagator of baseless theories.’ Again,” he stopped to qualify, “not the editorial page, this is like the regular newspaper.” He honed in on a factcheck within the article on a statement Kennedy made, saying after the Affordable Care Act, Democrats earned more money from the pharmaceutical industry than Republicans. That statement was incorrect, the Times said, according to an analysis by Statnews.
“Because the Obama administration made a deal with the pharmaceutical industry to support the bill … today I believe the Democrats are getting more money from pharma than Republicans,” Kennedy argued. “Even if that’s not exactly the case, the spirit of the answer is correct,” Maher agreed. “F**k them,” he added dismissively. “I’m doing this for a reason because I believe they deserve richly to be mocked for that attitude,” Maher concluded.
Over the course of the nearly two-hour conversation, Maher and Kennedy sparred over vaccine efficacy and covered a number of controversial topics, including Kennedy’s assertion that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be linked to the rise of school shootings in America.
With the interview, Maher joins a growing list of influential media figures — Joe Rogan, Megyn Kelly and CNN’s Michael Smerconish — to platform Kennedy Jr. RFK Jr. has been heavily censored by technology corporations like YouTube and largely kept off of cable news networks, despite holding the highest favorability ratings amongst declared presidential candidates, according to one poll.
