Is he out of line?
During a recent speech, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advocated for diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. president and foreign adversaries. Kennedy specifically mentioned leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, and the former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, despite Ahmadinejad having been out of office for more than a decade.
Kennedy’s remarks coincided with reports circulating about the death of Iran’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash along the Iran-Azerbaijan border. While NBC News had not confirmed Raisi’s death at the time of Kennedy’s speech, news of the incident had already garnered significant attention in both American and global media.
In his address to a crowd on Sunday afternoon, Kennedy also touched upon the topic of artificial intelligence (AI), stressing the importance of not implementing bans or excessive regulations that could drive AI out of the country. He emphasized the need for the U.S. to engage in dialogue with world leaders, including those mentioned earlier, to move towards a more diplomatic approach and away from perpetual conflict.
Kennedy’s inclusion of Ahmadinejad in his list of leaders to engage with raises questions, particularly given Ahmadinejad’s past involvement in Iran’s nuclear program. Ahmadinejad’s successor, Hassan Rouhani, took office in 2013 and played a significant role in negotiating the 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. However, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement during his administration, citing concerns about its effectiveness in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Despite inquiries, the Kennedy campaign did not provide a response regarding why Ahmadinejad was included in Kennedy’s list of leaders for potential presidential meetings.
