Politics
Once seen as an environmental crusader, RFK Jr. sheds green mantle with Trump endorsement
For decades, Robert. F. Kennedy Jr. worked as an environmental lawyer, filing lawsuits against polluters. He helped found a global green group that fought for clean water and helped defeat dam projects in Chile and Peru.
Yet even before he announced Friday that he was suspending his presidential campaign and supporting former President Trump, Kennedy had repeatedly disappointed and angered dozens of environmentalists, who said he had abandoned his green roots.
“It’s a shock to me knowing the Bobby I used to know,” said Dan Reicher, senior scholar at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. “I could not have imagined him supporting former President Trump.”
Reicher, a former U.S. assistant secretary of Energy, once worked with Kennedy at the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, and spent time kayaking with him on rivers in Chile and the U.S.
He said he had become increasingly dismayed by Kennedy’s campaign positions and statements on the environment. He pointed to how Kennedy had not presented any meaningful plans for cutting greenhouse gases. Instead, Reicher said, he had criticized the size of the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to clean energy projects in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
“He’s dismissed a lot of what we need to do on climate change,” Reicher said.
Long before he announced last year that he was running for president, Kennedy became known as an environmental advocate for his work in helping to clean up the Hudson River in New York with the group called Riverkeeper.
And up until 2020, he was the president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental group he helped found to fight for clean water around the world.
While that background would seem to put Kennedy at odds with Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax” and overturned numerous environmental rules, some activists grew increasingly concerned about his candidacy in recent months as he questioned Biden’s policies. Some point to his post on X where he said, “Climate change is being used to control us through fear.”
In April, dozens of Kennedy’s former colleagues at NRDC, where he worked for nearly three decades, paid for advertisements in swing states, calling for him to “honor our planet” by dropping out of the race.
“In nothing more than a vanity candidacy, RFK Jr. has chosen to play the role of election spoiler to the benefit of Donald Trump — the single worst environmental president our country has ever had,” the ad read.
That same month, a dozen green groups, including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, signed a letter calling on Americans to vote against Kennedy.
“We can’t, in good conscience, let him continue co-opting the credibility and successes of our movement for his own personal benefit,” the groups wrote.
In some cases, Kennedy had spoken of policies that went further than those of Biden. For example, he had aligned himself with many climate activists in his call to end American exports of liquefied natural gas. The Biden administration said early this year that it was pausing approvals of new gas export terminals while it studied the economic and climate impacts of the exports.
Kennedy told Politico that he did not want an export ban for environmental reasons, but rather to protect U.S. gas reserves from being depleted.
In that interview, Kennedy also said he wanted to roll back part of the Inflation Reduction Act that funded carbon capture projects, which are favored by the fossil fuel industry. He said he believed that Biden had been manipulated by oil companies.
“He’s played into the hands of the carbon industry by focusing on geoengineering and carbon capture, and that is to me a disastrous endpoint,” Kennedy said. “And it’s disastrous from an environmental point of view, and it also is just a subsidy for Big Carbon.”
There are 73 days until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
But if Americans vote like they did in the last two election cycles, most of them will have already cast a ballot before the big day.
Early voting starts as soon as Sept. 6 for eligible voters, with seven battleground states sending out ballots to at least some voters the same month.
It makes the next few months less a countdown to Election Day, and more the beginning of “election season.”
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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)
States have long allowed at least some Americans to vote early, like members of the military or people with illnesses.
In some states, almost every voter casts a ballot by mail.
Many states expanded eligibility in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it riskier to vote in-person.
That year, the Fox News Voter Analysis found that 71% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day, with 30% voting early in-person and 41% voting by mail.
Early voting remained popular in the midterms, with 57% of voters casting a ballot before Election Day.
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A voter fills out a ballot in Lake Orion, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Elections officials stress that voting early is safe and secure. Recounts, investigations and lawsuits filed after the 2020 election did not reveal evidence of widespread fraud or corruption.
The difference between “early in-person” and “mail” or “absentee” voting.
There are a few ways to vote before Election Day.
The first is early in-person voting, where a voter casts a regular ballot in-person at a voting center before Election Day.
The second is voting by mail, where the process and eligibility varies by state.
Eight states vote mostly by mail, including California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah. Registered voters receive ballots and send them back.
Most states allow any registered voter to request a mail ballot and send it back. This is also called mail voting, or sometimes absentee voting. Depending on the state, voters can return their ballot by mail, at a drop box, and/or at an office or facility that accepts mail ballots.
In 14 states, voters must have an excuse to vote by mail, ranging from illness, age, work hours or if a voter is out of their home county on Election Day.
States process and tabulate ballots at different times. Some states don’t begin counting ballots until election night, which delays the release of results.
Voting begins on Sept. 6 in North Carolina, with seven more battleground states starting that month
This list of early voting dates is for guidance only. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, go to Vote.gov and your state’s elections website.
The first voters to be sent absentee ballots will be in North Carolina, which begins mailing out ballots for eligible voters on Sept. 6.
Seven more battleground states open up early voting the same month, including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada.
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Early voters cast their ballots in Ferndale, Michigan. (Nic Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
September deadlines
In-person early voting in bold.
Sept. 6
- North Carolina – Absentee ballots sent to voters
Sept. 16
- Pennsylvania – Mail-in ballots sent to voters
Sept. 17
- Georgia – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
Sept. 19
- Wisconsin – Absentee ballots sent
Sept. 20
- Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Wyoming – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
- Minnesota, South Dakota – In-person absentee voting begins
- Virginia – In-person early voting begins
- Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia – Absentee ballots sent
Sept. 21
- Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington – Absentee ballots sent to military & overseas
- Indiana, New Mexico – Absentee ballots sent
- Maryland, New Jersey – Mail-in ballots sent
Sept. 23
- Mississippi – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
- Oregon, Vermont – Absentee ballots sent
Sept. 26
- Illinois – In-person early voting begins
- Michigan – Absentee ballots sent
- Florida, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
- North Dakota – Absentee & mail-in ballots sent
Sept. 30
- Nebraska – Mail-in ballots sent
October deadlines
Oct. 4
- Connecticut – Absentee ballots sent
Oct. 6
- Michigan – In-person early voting begins
- Maine – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
- California – In-person absentee voting begins & mail ballots sent
- Montana – In-person absentee voting begins
- Nebraska – In-person early voting begins
- Georgia – Absentee ballots sent
- Massachusetts – Mail-in ballots sent
Oct. 8
- California – Ballot drop-offs open
- New Mexico, Ohio – In-person absentee voting begins
- Indiana – In-person early voting begins
- Wyoming – In-person absentee voting begins & absentee ballots sent
Oct. 9
- Arizona – In-person early voting begins & mail ballots sent
Oct. 11
- Colorado – Mail-in ballots sent
- Arkansas, Alaska – Absentee ballots sent
Oct. 15
- Georgia – In-person early voting begins
- Utah – Mail-in ballots sent
Oct. 16
- Rhode Island, Kansas, Tennessee – In-person early voting begins
- Iowa – In-person absentee voting begins
- Oregon, Nevada – Mail-in ballots sent
Oct. 17
- North Carolina – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 18
- Washington, Louisiana – In-person early voting begins
- Hawaii – Mail-in ballots sent
Oct. 19
- Nevada, Massachusetts – In-person early voting begins
- Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas – In-person early voting begins
- Colorado – Ballot drop-offs open
Oct. 22
- Hawaii, Utah – In-person early voting begins
- Missouri, Wisconsin – In-person absentee voting begins
Oct. 23
- West Virginia – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 24
- Maryland – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 25
- Delaware – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 26
- Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, New York – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 30
- Oklahoma – In-person early voting begins
Oct. 31
- Kentucky – In-person absentee voting begins
From left, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images;
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
Speakers at the Democratic National Convention used more than 109,000 words over four days in Chicago this week. Their choice of words and phrases contrasts the themes and ideas of last month’s Republican National Convention.
Excluding common and routine words, the most frequently spoken words at the Democratic convention were:
A similar number of words were spoken at the Republican convention in Milwaukee last month, with speakers using more than 110,000 words over four days. The most common were:
Words From Notable Speakers
Former President Donald J. Trump’s acceptance speech was longer and used more than three times as many words as Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech.
Circles show the number of times these keynote speakers used the following words.
Words
10
– 2
2
–
6
8 11
3
–
7
1 3
13
4
2
1 5
2
6
15
4 2
22
8
8
2 5
21
1
4
– 7
1
4
7
3 2
9
5
13
5 9
22
14
1
– –
14
1
2
8 1
–
–
7
7 8
8
10
2
– 5
4
1
2
– 13
4
1
1
1 4
–
–
4
1 2
4
–
2
2 2
4
1
23
4 15
8
16
2
1 3
2
12
10
9 2
–
2
3
10 3
–
2
5
– 7
21
2
2
– 2
5
1
–
– –
13
1
–
– –
4
1
6
1 2
17
3
1
– 2
4
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2
– 3
9
–
2
– 2
–
–
1
– 1
14
5
–
– 4
4
–
3
– 3
–
–
–
– 1
–
–
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1
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8
–
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4
1
Photographs by Mandel Ngan/AFP (Biden); Will Oliver/EPA, via Shutterstock (Walz); J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press (Harris) and Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Joseph R.
Biden Jr.Tim
WalzKamala
Harris
Donald J.
TrumpJD
Vance
Democracy
Freedom
Economy, economic
Business
Job(s)
Tax(es)
Law
God
Love
Inflation
Neighbor, neighborhood
Family
Father
Mother
Abortion
Medicare
Social Security
Trump
Biden
Kamala
Harris
Border
Immigrant, immigration
Invasion
Illegal aliens
War
Ukraine
Russia
Putin
China, Chinese
Israel
Gaza
Hamas
Terrorist
Iran
Afghanistan
Divided Words
Many words were spoken frequently at both conventions, including “America,” “country,” “people” and “vote.” But the frequency of other words was less balanced.
Speakers at the Democratic convention leaned into words about liberty and patriotism, mentioning “freedom” 227 times compared with 67 times at the Republican convention. Words like “woman,” “joy” and “weird” were also used more often by Democratic speakers.
Republican speakers mentioned “inflation” seven times as often as Democrats, and both “God” and the price of “groceries” three times as often. Republicans used the word “assassination” or “assassin” 18 times, but the word was heard only once at the Democratic convention, and it was not a reference to the sniper attack on Mr. Trump in July.
Missing Words
Some words and phrases that appear in transcripts of the Democratic convention but not at all in Republican transcripts include “abortion,” “Project 2025” and “convicted felon.”
In contrast, some words from the Republican convention that were not heard this week in Chicago include “indoctrination,” “illegal aliens” and “invasion.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, urged her supporters to “get out there, let’s fight for it,” as she concluded her presidential nomination acceptance speech at this week’s Democratic National Convention.
With both major party national nominating conventions now in the books, the 2024 edition of the race for the White House enters the final sprint.
Both Harris and former President Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee, will be back on the campaign trail in the upcoming week, along with their running mates, making stops across some of the seven crucial battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the November election.
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Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 22, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid)
It’s a process that will be repeated each and every week until Election Day.
Harris interview?
The former president, his running mate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and their campaign and allied Republicans have repeatedly criticized Harris for not holding a major news conference or sitting for an interview since replacing Biden atop their party’s 2024 ticket over a month ago.
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So all eyes will be on Harris to see if she lives up to her promise to do a national news media interview in the week left in the month of August.
Fundraising fight
There’s just one week left in August, and the end of the month will bring anticipation of the latest fundraising figures from both the Trump and Harris campaigns.
President Biden enjoyed the fundraising lead over Trump earlier this year, but the former president saw his fundraising soar in the late spring and early summer.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, looks on as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. Kennedy endorsed Trump after suspending his campaign. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
But after Biden’s blockbuster move to end his re-election bid and Harris replacing him as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, the campaign and the party’s fundraising surged and Harris walloped Trump in fundraising during July.
The August numbers, which the campaigns could release as early as September 1, will be closely watched and scrutinized, as fundraising along with polling is a crucial metric.
Debate clash
The first and possibly the only presidential debate between Harris and Trump is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.
The face-off could be the most important evening in the 2024 presidential election, with the power to potentially shift or transform the current margin-of-error race between the vice president and the former president.
Former President Trump live posted on Truth Social during VP Harris’ DNC speech (Getty Images)
Need proof – just look back to the late June debate between Biden and Trump. The president’s disastrous performance fueled questions about whether the 81-year-old president had the mental and physical stamina to handle another four years in the White House. And it sparked calls from within his own party for Biden to drop out of the race.
Less than a month after the clash in Atlanta, the president was out of the race.
Early voting
There are 73 days to go until Election Day, but some voters will start casting ballots next month.
In swing state North Carolina, mail-in voting begins on Sept. 6. And early voting begins on Sept. 16 in Pennsylvania and Sept. 26 in Michigan, two other crucial electoral battlegrounds.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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