Days after announcing his run for the White House as an independent, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has now stated his support for slavery reparations to be paid to African Americans.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supports issuing reparations to the black community, making him the most prominent 2024 candidate to favor the controversial policy meant to atone for slavery and legal segregation.

President Biden has largely been silent on the issue, leading to frustration among the far left. 

Kennedy — who ditched his Democratic primary challenge to Biden earlier this month — has spoken out in favor of issuing federal dollars to “rebuild black infrastructure” like banks and businesses, and as well as “direct redress payments or tax credits” rather than no-strings cash giveaways.

Kennedy's plan can be found on his campaign website's "Racial Healing" page. The site, instead of "reparations," talks of "Targeted Community Repair" but mentions the plan would include direct payments:

Communities that were specifically targeted for destruction need to be specifically targeted for repair. During Jim Crow, Black banks, businesses, hospitals, schools, and farms were targeted for destruction. Racists knew that without these, the Black community had no chance of building wealth. We must set federal dollars aside to rebuild Black infrastructure. 

These programs complement direct redress payments or tax credits to the descendents of the victims of Jim Crow and other victims of persecution. RFK Jr. will find ways to offer this redress that are legal, fair, and win the approval of Americans of all races. 

Meanwhile, President Biden, while claiming to support "a study" into reparations, has taken no action towards that. 

The problem with this concept remains simple: The very idea involves taking money (or resources, which is another way of saying the same thing) away from people who have never owned slaves and giving it to people who have never been slaves. Also, the specific targeting of government largess towards any community, be it African Americans, Pacific Islanders, the Irish, or Martians, flies in the face of equal treatment under the law and should be immediately proscribed as such.

What government does for anyone it must do for everyone -- or it must do for no one.

On Wednesday, my colleague Thomas LaDuke described how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent candidacy may well siphon more votes away from the GOP nominee (who at this moment looks likely to be Donald Trump) than from Joe Biden. Personally, I doubt Biden will be the Democrats' candidate. However, the idea that Kennedy's candidacy could harm the GOP more than the Democrats seems less likely, the more Mr. Kennedy talks about his policy positions.

Mr. Kennedy wandered across the map on Second Amendment issues, as well, in 2018 referring to the NRA as a "Terror group," but then in 2023 pledging to "never take away anybody's guns."

Parkland students are right; the NRA is a terror group

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 17, 2018

Let me be clear on guns. As President I will respect the Second Amendment, and I will not try to take away people’s guns.

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 18, 2023

If that doesn't engender some skepticism, it's not at all clear what will.

RFK Jr. is coming across as a bit of a political chameleon. It's hard to swallow anyone's changing their views on something as strongly argued as the Second Amendment this dramatically over the course of only five years. Mr. Kennedy has taken plenty of shots at the Biden Administration, but if that's not a target-rich environment, then there's no such thing.

Third-party candidates can be entertaining. But as Duke said, the GOP's base, no matter how disgruntled they get with their elected officials and the slate of candidates, should stop turning to every New Hotness that comes along. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may not be a nutcase Squad progressive, but he's no conservative; he's a liberal, and as President he would work to reduce, not increase, liberty. Conservative voters would do well to keep that in mind.