The son of late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy says Donald Trump is leading a "campaign of hatred" with the help of the Republican Party — one that appeals to the nation's "dark angels."
"I think Donald Trump is dangerous, and he's deceptive, and he's a demagogue," lawyer and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
"I don't think it should surprise anybody to see how well he's doing, because that kind of demagoguery is formulaic, and it's easy. There are buttons that you can push, of bigotry and xenophobia and prejudice and anger and self-interest and nationalism — false patriotism."
"It's much more difficult to appeal to our lighter angels, to get us to transcend our narrow self-interest and see ourselves as part of the community and inspire people to make sacrifices and take risks in their own lives."
Kennedy added it is "much easier" to see America as a place to make "a big pile for yourself and whoever buys the most stuff wins. That we have to fight off people who don't look like us, or who don't love like us, or whatever — who are different."
"And I think those are the dark angels that Donald Trump appeals to, and I very much hope that his campaign of hatred dies on the vine. It's not surprising, because those are the passions that the Republican Party has been stirring — those kind of hatreds in the service, of course, of other interests."
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