Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to share with the audience his thoughts on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign announcement speech, which he attended in Boston last week.
Leahy: Joining us in studio, my very good friend, my former boss at PJTV, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, a very well-known novelist, mystery writer, and depending on the day, the most-read columnist at The Epoch Times, Mr. Roger Simon. Good morning, Roger.
Simon: Good morning. I think today because I’m writing about Tucker, it automatically makes me the most-read. (Chuckles)
Leahy: Yes, you will be. And we’ll talk about, Tucker in a little bit more detail in the 7:15 segment. And also will play the first thing he said since his firing by Fox News. You are returning from some travels, Roger.
Simon: Yes. I was hanging out with Vivek Ramaswamy in his campaign bus all over New Hampshire. And then I went down to Boston. I think I called in.
Leahy: Yes, you did.
Simon: I can’t remember what I did, anyway from the big debut of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. That was quite exciting and interesting. For once, the Democrats have got a contest on their hands, I hope the Democratic regulars pay attention.
Leahy: Can you give us a little description of the setting there in Boston? The hotel, how many people were there? How did the media react? How did Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s speech go over?
Simon: I got to say, the old Hollywood word, bafro. Really big. It was at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. It’s near Arlington. You know it well from your old days. It was jam-packed, standing room only, and roughly 1,000 people. A lot of them may have been Republicans. I knew a lot of the people there.
The Epoch Times was out in force because we are very interested in what he’s had to say about medical freedom in this country. He’s a forerunner in the back door of Dr. Fauci if there ever was one. He’s it. He’s a very interesting guy, he’s very smart you could say for a politician. But beyond that, he’s smart.
Some of the things he said really got the audience going when he quoted his assassinated uncle John Fitzgerald Kennedy when JFK famously, he said, I want to see the CIA splintered in a thousand pieces.
What he was essentially saying is, elect me and I’ll get rid of the CIA as it is. That’s pretty heavy stuff, but a lot of people these days are supporting that and there were a lot of people in that room that supported it, the FBI as well, bye-bye.
Leahy: It’s very interesting to look at sort of the changes over time. If you go back and look at the Democratic Party in the 1960 presidential election, the entire Kennedy family was all in for John F. Kennedy. Of course, his father, the famous bootlegger, Wall Street shyster, if you will.
Simon: Might have been on the side of Germany.
Leahy: Joseph Pete Kennedy. That guy. He made a lot of money but was on the margin, shall we say.
Simon: Yes. Indeed.
Leahy: So that guy. But from the election of John F. Kennedy and all of the great press that he got that his father really paid for, the press was totally with him. The guy at The Washington Post, Ben Bradley, was his best friend and great. And then, of course, after his assassination, he became a saint, if you will, among the Democrats. And then Robert Kennedy, Jr’s father, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968.
Simon: I saw him speak two days before his assassination in east Los Angeles. I have to say he’s the most charismatic political speaker I have seen, with the exception of Donald Trump, who was very charismatic too.
Leahy: Do you think that the Kennedy charisma that John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy had, has that torch been passed to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr?
Simon: Semi. I think he is as intelligent as his forebearers, no question. And maybe a better writer, because he sits down and does it in that book on Fauci, is gigantic. He has a vocal problem. He has an unfortunate disease that makes him talk…I’ve got a cold today talking on the radio, but you have to pay attention to what he is saying more than you should have to. But there is nothing he can do about that.
Leahy: I originally thought that speech problem would be a significant hindrance to his campaign. I’m thinking maybe not so much in this world.
Simon: I think you’re right. I think, you have to pay attention, but you should pay attention. So there you go.
Leahy: There you go.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
– – –
Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
