Once upon a time, before his administration had been largely co-opted by the Deep State via strategically placed plants like Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, etc., Trump had reportedly taken an active interest in recruiting RFK Jr. as the chairman of a vaccine safety commission.

Via Politico, January 2017 (emphasis added):

“President-elect Donald Trump has asked Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a major source of disproved theories imputing harm to vaccines, to chair a ‘commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity,’ Kennedy told reporters after a meeting in Trump Tower on Tuesday.

Kennedy, who said he accepted the assignment, has been insisting for over a decade that traces of mercury in a preservative formerly used in childhood vaccines caused a massive increase in autism diagnoses. He has clung to the theory despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.

Later in the day, however, Trump appeared to be backing off Kennedy’s report. In a statement released by the transition team, Trump said he ‘enjoyed his discussion’ with Kennedy and was ‘exploring the possibility of forming a committee on Autism, which affects many families; however no decisions have been made at this time.’”

Fast forward seven years — with no changes in RFK Jr.’s consistent and principled position on vaccine safety — and Trump is suddenly singing a different tune, the only conclusions to which being that he has no truly sincerely-held beliefs on this issue and that his strategery is lacking miserably.  

Via The Independent, present day (emphasis added):

“Donald Trump has begun lashing out at independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr amid recent polling indicating the anti-vaxxer is attracting the support of potential Trump voters.

Over the weekend, Mr Trump made at least four Truth Social posts attacking Mr Kennedy, falsely asserting he is a ‘Democratic plant’ installed to help President Joe Biden win, that he is more liberal than any other candidate and that his views on vaccines are ‘fake.’

‘A Vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE, that could swing either way, but would only swing against the Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him.’ Mr Trump wrote on Saturday.

The sudden ramp-up of attacks arrives after polling from Quinnipiac, Marist and NBC News shows that Mr Kennedy’s campaign is taking votes away from Mr Trump.

An NBC News poll shows that in match-ups between Mr Trump and Mr Biden, the former president has at least a two-point lead. But when Mr Kennedy is thrown into the mix, Mr Biden then takes the lead. Marist polling indicates Mr Kennedy has managed to increase his support among independents from 21 per cent to 27 per cent – meanwhile, Mr Trump has gone from 38 per cent to 30 per cent.”

Morality aside — I’m not sure Trump has ever been or could ever be swayed by pleas to morality; it’s not in his DNA — this is total strategic buffoonery for a candidate who needs every single member of his base to show out in November.

The calculus is not rocket science.

Trump repeatedly brags at rallies about Operation Warp speed and gets booed every time — the only time he ever gets booed for anything at these things — because his ego can’t cope with not being praised for what he believes was a heroic effort on his part, Operation Warp Speed.

          Related: Trump Brags AGAIN About Operation Warp Speed, Shills Vaxxes

RFK Jr.’s vaxx position, on the other hand, is in line with the vast majority of Trump’s base.

If you’re Trump, why attack your opponent’s greatest strength relative to you?

There are possible explanations, of course.

Perhaps he’s been warned that going full “anti-vaxx” is a red line the permanent state won’t abide, and that he’s liable to get the JFK treatment if he pursues it. Maybe he’s been pledged some sort of bribe via industry back-channels. Maybe he’s a legitimate Kool-Aid drinker.

Or, maybe, just maybe, the same essential problem that kept him from pulling out of Afghanistan or pardoning Julian Assange rears its ugly head again: the advisers Trump allows himself to be surrounded with promote agendas at odds with his own base, yet through flattery and other means he allows himself to be led astray by these jackals.

Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs.

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