RealClearPolitics - Homepage

RFK Jr. Is in His Influencer Era

Apr 23, 2026Center Right

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is entering his influencer era as US health secretary.

Read Full Story at Source

Compare Perspectives

Found 8 stories

Wannabe influencer busted for pelting sleeping homeless victims with ‘high-powered’ water gun

New York Post

54 minutes ago

Wannabe influencer busted for pelting sleeping homeless victims with ‘high-powered’ water gun

A Houston man was slapped with multiple charges after posting videos of himself shooting homeless people with a “high-powered motorized water gun” in a sick social media stunt.

Right

Read →

Lakers get surprising title odds boost as LeBron James era nears end

New York Post

2 days ago

Lakers get surprising title odds boost as LeBron James era nears end

Apparently, less LeBron James is more for the Lakers.

Right

Read →

Back in Congress, Tom Kean Jr. Faces a New Challenge: Staying There

NYT > U.S. > Politics

3 days ago

Back in Congress, Tom Kean Jr. Faces a New Challenge: Staying There

The New Jersey Republican has explained the reason for his long absence: depression. Now he must convince voters that he deserves another term.

Center Left

Read →

Common Dreams

3 days ago

Supreme Court Gives Blessing for Billionaires to Buy More Influence Over Politicians

Today, the Supreme Court ruled for the Republican Party and JD Vance in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, reversing previous decisions and removing one of the last restrictions preventing wealthy donors from funneling huge sums to their preferred candidates through political parties. The decision strikes down limits on "coordinated expenditures" and opens the door to even more billionaire influence in American elections.Stand Up America’s Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs, Brett Edkins, issued the following statement on today’s decision:“The right-wing supermajority on the Supreme Court thinks Citizens United didn’t go far enough. Today they gave their blessing for billionaires to buy even more influence over the politicians who represent us.“Americans deserve a Supreme Court that upholds our fundamental freedoms–not one that consistently sides with billionaire donors and diminishes the power of everyday citizens in our democracy. Congress should rein in this rogue Court once Trump leaves office by enacting major reforms, including term limits, an enforceable code of ethics, and expanding the Court with justices who will defend our democracy and our fundamental freedoms.”Since 2021, Stand Up America has been on the front lines of the fight for Supreme Court reform, mobilizing its members to take nearly one million actions in support of Supreme Court term limits, expansion, and a binding code of ethics.

Far Left

Read →

Lakers decline Nick Smith Jr.’s team option, making guard free agent

New York Post

3 days ago

Lakers decline Nick Smith Jr.’s team option, making guard free agent

The Lakers declined Nick Smith Jr.’s $2.5 million team option for the 2026-27 season, making the guard an unrestricted free agent. The decision, which was first reported by ESPN, will help give the Lakers over $50 million in cap space entering free agency on Tuesday. The Lakers declined Nick Smith Jr.’s $2.5 million team option...

Right

Read →

Two-time failed challenger Rick Scott makes new bid for influence in divided GOP

Alternet.org

4 days ago

Two-time failed challenger Rick Scott makes new bid for influence in divided GOP

With tensions between President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) growing — and the 2026 midterm elections a little over four months away — Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) invited Trump to address Senate Republicans at a lunch held on Wednesday, June 26. Scott is saying that he was trying to promote a healthy dialogue between Trump and Thune, but the Florida senator, according to Politico's Jordain Carney, proposed the lunch "without Majority Leader John Thune's express approval" — and Scott's actions are fueling speculation about his possible motivations."What has become eminently clear in recent weeks is that Scott — after a long career in business, two terms as governor and nearly eight years as senator — just isn't a back-bench kind of guy," Carney reports in Politico. "He has lots of thoughts on how the Senate should be run and a willingness to express them, even if it puts him at odds with Thune's vision. The leader, who trounced Scott in a 2024 conference election, has largely avoided holding doomed votes that would split Republicans and, like many GOP senators, would like nothing more than to get past the months-long intra-party fight over the SAVE America Act, the elections bill pushed by Trump."Scott, according to Carney, "insists that those who see this as a prelude to a leadership challenge" against Thune "have it all wrong."The Florida senator/ex-Florida governor told Politico, "Here's what I don't get. Other people get to put out their position. If I put out mine, then I want to be leader?"But Carney notes that Scott's latest actions are "only his latest attempt to stay in the thick of the action in a body where obscurity can be hard to avoid.""His stint running the GOP Senate campaign arm ahead of the 2022 midterms was controversial and ended with Democrats beating historical headwinds and slightly expanding their bare majority," Carney reports. "He annoyed colleagues with his policy of not intervening in contested Republican primaries and infuriated some of them by promulgating a policy agenda through his personal political operation that they hadn’t agreed to. That did not deter Scott from challenging then-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after the election that year, garnering only 10 votes of 47. He tried again after McConnell stepped down as leader two years later. Scott won 13 votes in a three-way race, but Thune ultimately prevailed."Carney points out that Thune, unlike McConnell, Scott "doesn't have an openly antagonistic relationship with Scott." And the Senate majority leader avoided criticizing Scott during an interview with Politico.Thune told Politico, "He brings people in that help inform our conversations and discussions about some of the major policy issues. I'm very supportive of what he's doing."

Left

Read →

Cassidy accuses RFK Jr. of building public health "upon a foundation of lies"

Politics - CBSNews.com

5 days ago

Cassidy accuses RFK Jr. of building public health "upon a foundation of lies"

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., "If you build public health upon a foundation of lies, then you're going to have the absence of adequate public health."

Center

Read →

GOP Sen. Cassidy seeks to explain RFK Jr. confirmation vote for Health and Human Services

The Hill News

5 days ago

GOP Sen. Cassidy seeks to explain RFK Jr. confirmation vote for Health and Human Services

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in a Sunday interview sought to explain his controversial vote to confirm Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as he said Kennedy is dug in on his views toward vaccinations despite public opinion. Cassidy, the first physician to serve as the chair of the Senate Health, Education,…

Center

Read →

RFK Jr. Is in His Influencer Era

Summary

Related Coverage

Daily Analysis

More Headlines From April 23, 2026

RFK Jr. Is in His Influencer Era

Compare Perspectives

Common Dreams