Secretary Kennedy Draws Largest Crowd in GW College Republicans’ History
- GW College Republicans
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Colin Slechta, CA - writer
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appearance at Lisner Auditorium drew the largest crowd in the George Washington College Republicans’ 115-year-old history, with about 1,300 people in attendance. Chairman of the College Republicans, Kieran Laffey, gave a brief speech before Secretary Kennedy spoke with CR members Paul Lieb and Ryan Van Slingerland. Kennedy then took questions from audience members.
Kennedy spoke on a wide range of issues, from the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the importance of political discussion to the increasing rates of autism and peanut allergies.
When asked about what effect Charlie Kirk had on the national conversation, Kennedy said, “We were both advocates of the First Amendment and free speech … You have to respect Charlie because he believed in certain things. Most of all, he believed in all the dialogue and free speech.”
Kennedy’s visit to the university is a part of a Turning Point USA tour that has featured prominent members of the conservative movement and the Trump administration.
Kennedy was also asked about his Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement. He justified the expansive reforms as being essential because of a rise in autism, diabetes, and peanut allergies.
He compared the much lower numbers from the 1960s to today’s astonishingly high rates; “You know, 40% of Americans, 38% of teens now are diabetic, and pre-diabetic. And when I was a kid, a typical pediatrician would see one case of juvenile diabetes over a 40 or 50-year career.”
One of MAHA’s most publicized reforms at the FDA has been the phasing out of synthetic food dyes such as Red No. 40. Kennedy stressed the importance of these reforms, along with denying ever having cut clinical trials.
The heterodox politics and career of the Health Secretary were also a major topic of conversation. Kennedy spoke about the two-party system, his disillusionment with the Democratic Party, and the successes of the Trump administration. He attacked the Democratic Party as having abandoned the values it stood for in his youth, including the open-borders agenda, defense of pharmaceutical companies, and opposition to NAFTA. Kennedy’s break with the party would ultimately materialize over the pro-war stance of the Democrats with respect to Ukraine.
When asked about running as an independent in America’s two-party system, Kennedy commented that he thinks, “it’s hard for a third party in this country. You know, having now been in the government for a while, I think if I had won the presidency, it would have been very hard for me to govern.”
Kennedy was never a serious contender for the office, but he commanded formidable polling numbers in the early months of 2024.
Kennedy was asked what it was like working with President Trump and if he had any amusing stories. He remarked that the cabinet certainly had some of the funniest members, and that he and Vice President Vance agreed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the funniest member.
Kennedy recounted that during one cabinet meeting regarding DOGE, research found that there were several thousand people receiving workers' compensation who were 124 years old. Rubio then noted, “To be fair, it's pretty hard to find a job when you’re 124 years old.”
Logan Sedran, a member of Turning Point Foggy Bottom, which helped organize the event, observed that, “Turnout was incredible, we promoted it in four days and got well over a thousand people.”
An underwhelming protest was organized in response to Kennedy’s appearance at Lisner. The lack of energy and organization in this endeavor, compared to the massive success of the speaking event itself, proves the growing strength of the right-wing across college campuses in America.
