United States Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined KSRM’s Talk of the Kenai on Thursday, Apr. 4. During the interview, RFK addressed several issues with show host Bob Bird, including federal control of Alaska lands, like ANWR, his running mate, attorney and technologist Nicole Shannahan, how to handle the Mexican-American border, election integrity, and more.
Securing the interview was a weeks-long process of communication and coordinating with RFK’s schedule, but a commitment was secured from the presidential hopeful in late March.
One of the first topics addressed was the state of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the federal influence on the development of Alaskan lands. Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat now running on an independent ticket, was forthright in his opposition to the development of ANWR. “I’ve been very active out on about preserving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil development,” Kennedy said. “I do believe there are parts of our country, like the Grand Canyon, like Yosemite Park, like Yellowstone now, that we shouldn’t develop unless there’s some critical existential need to do so.”
On the subject of border control, Kennedy took a more conservative stance, stating in no uncertain terms, “I will close the border immediately,” before going on to comment on the no-win scenario facing Border Patrol agents. “The Border Patrol is completely demoralized. They’re not allowed to keep people out. They’re not allowed to send them back. Their job is not just to process them [but] they fingerprint them. If they have a criminal record, then they deter them.”
Talk of the Kenai Host, Bob Bird, also discussed election security with Kennedy, one of the presidential candidate’s more controversial stances. Many left-wing media outlets have branded Kennedy a conspiracy theorist for his outspoken position on the susceptibility of electronic voting systems to being compromised. Kennedy, however, says the inherent vulnerability in the systems is very apparent. “Electronic systems are hackable, no matter what people say. You’re gonna be able to hack them. And we need a way [to safeguard elections], particularly with AI …everything can be hacked. So, we need a paper ballot that can be easily counted.”
The entire interview can be heard below;
