Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks border, marijuana at national sheriffs conference in Oklahoma City

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke with Sheriff Greg Champagne at the National Sheriffs' Association conference in Oklahoma City on June 24, 2024. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to a gathering of local law enforcement leaders from around the country on Monday on his long shot campaign for the White House, mostly covering border security and steering clear of false, anti-vaccination conspiracies he has pushed. 

“There’s nothing humanitarian about what’s happening there,” Kennedy said, touting his visits to the U.S. border with Mexico. “It’s the obligation of any president to control the border, to seal it, and have immigration policy that actually functions to help our country.”

Kennedy spoke at a National Sheriffs’ Association convention in Oklahoma City. Sheriff Greg Champagne, of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, moderated the discussion. Champagne said President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were invited, but only Kennedy accepted the invitation. 

That meant Kennedy got a nearly uninterrupted half-hour with the sheriffs, who often are the front line of immigration enforcement at the southern border or who sometimes house people jailed on federal immigration charges. 

When Champagne shifted the conversation to the “mental health and drug crisis” in jails, Kennedy said marijuana should be fully decriminalized at the federal level. Revenue from government-regulated marijuana sales could then be used to cover the costs of “healing farms” where people dealing with marijuana addiction could live free-of-charge to recover. 

When asked about the Israel-Hamas war, Kennedy said that World War II was the last “moral war” the U.S. has been involved in, calling the rest “wars of choice.” 

He repeatedly denounced Hamas for their desire for the “annihilation of Israel,” but also called himself “very pro-Palestinian.”

As time expired, Kennedy thanked the law enforcement leaders for their service. 

“What you do is the foundation stone of American communities, the foundation stone for our country, it’s the beginning of local democracy,” Kennedy said. “Everything we do that we’re successful in begins at your level of democracy.”

Earlier Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected two appeals about COVID-19 vaccines from a nonprofit that Kennedy founded. Kennedy is listed as an attorney for the group in court paperwork. 

Kennedy did not meet the qualifications to participate in Thursday’s presidential debate on CNN, meaning only Biden and Trump will appear. CNN said Kennedy did not meet its threshold for qualifying for state ballots and polling.

Kennedy filed for candidacy in Oklahoma in May.  

Among other conspiracy theories, Kennedy has been vocal about his anti-vaccination stance and has falsely claimed that vaccinations cause autism. 

Kennedy, 70, is the part of one of the most famous political families in the U.S. He is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, and his father was a U.S. senator and attorney general before running for the Democratic nomination for president. Both of those Kennedys were assassinated.

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