Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been seen as a viable option for voters unwilling to support either the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump or incumbent President Joe Biden.
NFL quarterback Aaron Rogers, former NBA all-star John Stockton and actor Kevin Spacey have endorsed him.
Some conservatives in Alabama have acknowledged giving RFK Jr. a serious look.
However, in 2018, Kennedy took a shot at Alabama talk radio during a book talk for the Free Library of Philadelphia's Author Events Series.
During his discussion with then-Philadelphia PBS affiliate WHYY on-air personality Tracey Matisak, now with Scranton, Pa. PBS affiliate WVIA, Kennedy claimed a visit to Alabama, he found his spoken word radio experience to include "really poisonous racial stuff" and a "barrage of this right-wing insanity."
"I was in Alabama 2 weeks ago, and I was driving from Huntsville to Birmingham," he said. "And you know the AM dial is all right-wing talk radio. There is nothing progressive or liberal. But in Alabama, the FM dial is also 100% right-wing talk. There are like five stations and all of them were really poisonous racial stuff — stuff you wouldn't believe was happening in America. There's one NPR station. And of course, NPR is not liberal. It's neutral. It's just the truth, right? It's not deliberately progressive or liberal."
"There are stations, like Thom [Hartmann], who do that deliberately liberal stuff. NPR is very innocuous," Kennedy continued. "But NPR in Alabama only plays classical music. People aren't getting that. They're literally just getting this barrage of this right-wing insanity all the time — this hate stuff, demagogue, all the alchemies of a demagoguery."
Kennedy never specified what stations he was referring to in his journey from Huntsville to Birmingham, presumably on Interstate 65. However, in 2018, there were a handful of talk radio options available along that route, including WVNN and WBHP in Huntsville, WYDE in Cullman, and WERC and Talk 99.5 in Birmingham.
Watch the entire book talk:
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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