Trump shares anti-vaccine sentiments in leaked phone call with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump recently had a private phone call with Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that has now been leaked to the public.
![In a recently leaked private conversation, presidential candidate Donald Trump (r.) shared anti-vaccine views with his challenger, Robert Kennedy Jr.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/s/q/sqzhnxh0osxu3ncsh52krrh7ap1kdqyr.jpg)
The two politicians spoke on Monday morning as Trump was preparing to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee later that day.
In a leaked video of their conversation, Trump is heard seemingly trying to convince Kennedy to endorse him ahead of the general elections in November.
At one point, the former president attempted to appeal to his challenger by parroting some of the anti-vaccine rhetoric that Kennedy has become popular for.
"Something's wrong with that whole system. And it's the doctors, you find," Trump said. "When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it's meant for a horse, not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby. And then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically.
"I've seen it too many times," he added. "And then you hear that it doesn't have an impact."
Trump also mentioned the recent assassination attempt he survived, stating that the bullet wound he took that day "felt like the world's largest mosquito."
In the wake of the video being posted, Kennedy claimed in a social media post that he was "taping with an in-house videographer" during the call and publicly apologized to Trump for the leak.
What are Donald Trump's views on vaccines?
![As the Covid-19 pandemic swept the nation in 2020, Trump infamously began sowing doubt about the efficacy of masks, vaccines, and other proposed safety measures.](https://media.tag24.de/951x634/q/d/qds8rdtbo8u86eb09qqho95qq7llad0z.jpg)
News of their discussion comes as critics have deemed Kennedy, who is at single digits in most national polls, a "spoiler" candidate, with some arguing that he may siphon votes from either Trump or Democrat Joe Biden.
Many of those critics believe he stands to take more from Trump, as the two candidates have way more in common, including their history of anti-vaccine views.
During Trump's 2016 presidential administration, and as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the nation, Trump infamously began sowing doubt about the efficacy of masks, vaccines, and other proposed safety measures.
At one point, he even pushed the unfounded theory that vaccines cause autism.
But as he now runs for re-election, he has tried to take credit for Operation Warp Speed, the effort pushed by his administration to administer Covid vaccines in a timely fashion, while avoiding the topic of vaccines and his overall handling of the pandemic.
When reached for comment, Kennedy campaign press secretary Stefanie Spear confirmed to Politico that the meeting took place but sternly noted that RFK has no intentions of dropping out of the race.
Cover photo: Collage: Kevin Dietsch & JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP