Welcome to Thursday’s edition of Washington Secrets. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s stance on vaccines may be wildly polarizing, but he is a key figure in the coming midterm elections. We dive into why he is in demand on the campaign trail. Plus, saying goodbye to the Butcher of Bosnia, who — as far as we know — was able to stomach prison food, unlike the Tate brothers…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in demand by Republican candidates for campaign appearances around the country in the hope that some of his stardust and MAHA energy rub off on them.
He went fishing in Iowa last week with Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, who is also part of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again movement. Days earlier, he appeared with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), who faces a battle to hold on to a razor-thin majority.
The state is turning into a major battleground, with Republicans facing headwinds as they try to hold on to the governor’s mansion and a Senate seat vacated by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
Republican insiders say they see a pattern. When candidates need a hand in tight races, they look for a little Kennedy magic.
Secrets is told that only President Donald Trump himself and Vice President JD Vance are more in demand. (Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary and former reality TV star, is another who is popular with candidates on the stump.)
And RFK Jr. has been one of the most visible Cabinet secretaries, sometimes appearing alongside candidates and sometimes holding official events as Health and Human Services secretary in competitive districts.
During the summer, he has appeared in Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Michigan.
“The MAHA movement is one of the most important forces in American politics right now,” said Mike Marinella, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans. “RFK Jr. has been a powerful force on the campaign trail as he helps our Republican candidates get their message across to voters who prioritize making America healthy again.”
The MAHA bloc was a dynamic force during the 2024 election. Made up of worried (often millennial) mothers, libertarians, eco-warriors, and more, it captured a diverse cross-section of voters.
Analysis by GOP polling firm co/efficient found it may have accounted for as many as 6% of former non-Trump voters switching sides.
But Republicans cannot take it for granted this time around, according to Brent Buchanan, founder of polling firm Cygnal.
“Republicans basically rented RFK’s coalition during the 2024 presidential election and thought that they bought it, but we’re really just squatters currently on the MAHA agenda,” he said.
Getting Kennedy himself on the trail helps remind voters what has been accomplished on the MAHA agenda, bridging an important gap to women voters, he added. His message that big business is poisoning children and the environment also resonates in the nation’s low-trust environment.
“Where RFK Jr. comes in is going into these districts and talking to these types of voters specifically, and saying here are the things we’ve already accomplished, and if you let Democrats get in charge, they will undo all the things we’ve done, and we still have so much more to get done,” Buchanan said.
In Iowa, it comes with a very specific focus. Cancer rates are accelerating at a time when they are falling elsewhere, and residents worry that poor water quality—caused by runoff from farmland—is to blame.
Hence, the photograph of Kennedy and Lahn, the candidate for governor, standing by a river, fishing rods in hand.
The visit to an early nominating state will also fuel speculation that the Health and Human Services secretary also has one eye on a presidential run.
And then there is the Kennedy star power. A Pew Research poll earlier this year found that only 6% of Americans had never heard of him.
That compares with 9% who did not know Vance, 19% who had never heard of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and 31% who hadn’t the faintest idea who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was.
No wonder he is in demand.
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The Eternal Commander of the Army of Republika Srpska
Farewell then Ratko Mladic, known to most of the world as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” whose death was announced Thursday. The Serbian general, 84, was serving a life sentence for his role in the genocide committed during the Bosnian war.
He ordered his troops to “scorch the brains” of Bosnian Muslim people in a conflict that killed 100,000 people and left another million homeless as the former Yugoslavia imploded.
But, in these politically charged times, let us not ignore the need for balance.
So this is how Politika, Serbia’s most authoritative daily newspaper, is remembering the “Eternal Commander of the Army of Republika Srpska.”
“He will continue to be debated in political salons and various histories will be written about him. However, the image of a general among soldiers, on the front lines, with the conviction that the homeland is not defended with words, but with personal sacrifice, responsibility, and loyalty to the oath, will remain among the people he led during the years of struggle.”
Quote of the day
Those poor Tate boys. Andrew and Tristan Tate might be fighting extradition to the United Kingdom, where they face dozens of charges, including rape and sex trafficking, but it seems they still expect to be treated as titans of the “manosphere” during their time in a Miami jail.
Tristan Tate wrote a note to their lawyer Joe McBride, who, for reasons best known to himself, posted it on X.
“We have had 14 snack items in the past 32 days between two big men. What is this, trick or treat? I’ve lost 13 pounds and I’m hungry.”
Anyway, McBride must have come to his senses. The message has since been deleted.
Lunchtime reading
Marmots are terrorizing California hikers and stealing their shoes: It’s almost the weekend, so here is some light relief, unless, that is, you are a hiker in California.
Republicans in America’s reddest state just sent their party a message: Henry Olsen looks at what is happening in Wyoming and concludes that Republicans don’t want to cut their way out of a debt black hole.