Maya Vinokour, “The rise of RFK Jr. is a wake-up call for out-of-touch liberals” | The Boston Globe

On April 19, 2025, IPK Fellow Maya Vinokour penned an opinion piece for The Boston Globe titled “The rise of RFK Jr. is a wake-up call for out-of-touch liberals.” Read the excerpt below, then click for the full article.

One standard liberal response to figures like Kennedy has been fact-checking. That tactic won’t change anyone’s mind. When Kennedy invokes “clean foods” or proposes sunshine as a panacea, he’s spreading misinformation — but he’s also speaking to widespread nostalgia for a simpler, less scary time. Even as he validates the feeling that something has gone deeply wrong with modern life, he proposes remedies that return his listeners to childhood — to those eternal-feeling summers when all it took to feel OK was a sunny day and some ice cream. At the same time, his “health freedom” agenda aligns with Project 2025, which stresses the need for the US Department of Health and Human Services to pursue such goals as “empowering patient choices.”

Ultimately, to combat Kennedy, the liberal establishment must recognize that his popularity reflects a genuine crisis of trust.

Read the full article here.

Photo Credits: Pete Kiehart / NYT