RFK Jr’s somewhat predictable flop at the Libertarian convention

Generally speaking, it’s a bad sign when people start running — not walking, but running — for the exits before your speech even begins.

Luckily for Robert F Kennedy Jr, most of them came back — including the man walking around without pants (yes, really).

Friday’s appearance by America’s leading independent candidate at the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington DC began an hour late. Thirty five minutes after the scheduled start time, a friendly female voice came across the speakers, announcing that the candidate was just 15 minutes away. Groans immediately arose from the audience.

The confusion and chaos was far from over. With minutes to go, people suddenly began standing up in the audience and making their way for the exits. Some left the room in a jog. The reason? News had just broke of a major vote taking place downstairs on the convention floor — all delegates were needed.

The candidate finally took the stage around 4.30pm. With a voice that sounded like he was battling sickness, Robert F Kennedy Jr got right to the meat of his pitch to a room full of skeptics towards federal power: the numerous alleged violations of the Constitution committed under the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Constitution’s Bill of Rights, he told attendees, had no “pandemic exception”. Many of his strongest criticisms, as it turned out, were aimed at the former president for his management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Many of our most fundamental rights disappeared overnight,” he warbled. He also recounted telling an NBC News crew that he chose not to wear a mask during the pandemic to avoid “living like a slave”.

His railings against the Trump administration’s “lockdowns” — which were actually instituted at the local level — earned