Among Many Other Disqualifications, RFK Jr. & Kash Patel Are Clearly Too Online

If Thursday's confirmation hearings revealed anything, it's that they both seem to spend a lot of time on weird online forums.

By Kylie Cheung  |  January 30, 2025 | 5:00pm
Photo: Screenshot Politics
Among Many Other Disqualifications, RFK Jr. & Kash Patel Are Clearly Too Online

Between Donald Trump’s wildly offensive press conference about the deadly D.C. plane crash and not one but two off-the-rails confirmation hearings, chaos reigned across the Capitol on Thursday. 

As the Senate held hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, and Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director, it became clear that these two men should be nowhere near the halls of power—I wouldn’t even trust either of them to moderate a Discord chat. If their hearings revealed anything, it’s that they both seem to spend a lot of time on weird Reddit forums—or, wherever the nefarious right-wingers are gathering these days. 

Thursday marked day two of Kennedy’s confirmation hearings, and things devolved quickly. The hearing took a deeply upsetting turn as senators went back and forth over his debunked conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism. Tearing up, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), who told the Senate that she’s the parent of a child with disabilities, said the now-retracted study erroneously linking vaccines and autism “rocked her world” and condemned any conspiracy theorizing on the matter. 

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) surprised his colleagues and reporters when he repeatedly asked Kennedy to disavow the pseudoscience about vaccines and autism; Kennedy declined each time, saying he’ll do so when he sees definitive evidence that they don’t. Cassidy wrapped his questioning by saying he’s “struggling” with Kennedy’s nomination, warning that if vaccination rates drop and preventable deaths rise under the Trump administration, this will “cast a shadow” on Trump’s legacy.

“You call them anti-vaxxers, that’s not what they would call themselves. I would call them safe vaccine advocates,” RFK Jr. said at one point of the terminally online anti-vaxxers who have clearly guided his insane beliefs.

At other points in the hearing, Kennedy denied the sexual assault allegation against him and almost went on a racist tangent about how “Blacks” need fewer antigens to be healthy, before being cut off by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD). He gave more non-answers about abortion, maintaining that he’ll simply do whatever Trump wants. (Trump is currently enacting Project 2025 at a shocking pace, and severely restricting medication abortion is high on that agenda.)

At the same time all that was happening, Patel sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee and appeared to perjure himself on several occasions, lying about things he’s said on different far-right podcasts and online talk shows as well as his role in collaborating with January 6 insurrectionists on their monstrosity of a song last year. We know these are lies because there is video footage of him all over the internet. We also know about his plans to wield the FBI to target Trump’s political enemies, and his host of vile, racist beliefs and conspiracy theories.

Again, this is a recurring theme: Trump nominees’ addiction to talking to anyone who has a spare podcast mic and wants to hear their insane thoughts means their digital footprints are long, readily accessible, and might I add, heinous?

First, Patel lied that he didn’t know who sang the “Justice for All” anthem that insurrectionists recorded from prison. Of course, on Steve Bannon’s podcast in 2023, Patel bragged about producing the song; he also tweeted about it, warning “Miley, Taylor, Rihanna, and all the rest” that his music was about to make them obsolete. 

Democratic senators also asked Patel if he knew the far-right, fringe conspiracy theorist Stew Peters. “Not off the top of my head,” Patel said. 

“You’ve made eight appearances on his podcast,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) replied. 

So, either Patel is lying through his teeth or he does not have a functioning hippocampus—both seem pretty disqualifying to run the FBI. 

He also claimed that he’s never promoted QAnon—a far-right conspiracy theory that Democrats are a cabal of pedophiles drinking children’s blood—despite photos he’s posted to social media of himself and top QAnon proponents, and numerous posts promoting QAnon. 

There’s a lesson here if right-wingers and specifically men addicted to the sound of their own voice are willing to learn it: Sign off. If you find yourself watching your third straight YouTube video about how vaccines are destroying society and planting government microchips in all of us? Put your phone away—better yet, throw it in the ocean. Did Stew Peters or Steve Bannon invite you to stop by their podcast? Decline—better yet, ask yourself why either of these sentient 4Chan posts who should be nowhere near schools or playgrounds want to talk to you. If you ever find yourself interrogated at a Senate hearing, thank me later!

 
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