Kennedy campaign condemns fundraising email that defended 'J6 activists'

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign on Thursday distanced itself from a fundraising email that appeared to defend incarcerated participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

"That statement was an error that does not reflect Mr. Kennedy’s view. It was inserted by a new marketing contractor and slipped through the normal approval process," Kennedy spokesperson Stephanie Spear told NBC News. The campaign later indicated that it had "terminated its contract" with the contractor, according to The Hill.

The email focused on the government's handling of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, but also suggested that many Jan. 6 participants were unjustly incarcerated.

"Rarely do opposites attract, especially in Washington. Yet regarding the case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is facing extradition to the US, both hard-right Marjorie Taylor Green[e] and hard-left Ilhan Omar Agree: We Must Free Assange Now!" it stated. "The Brits want to make sure our government doesn’t kill Assange."

"This is the reality that every American Citizen faces — from Ed Snowden, to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington DC jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties. Please help our campaign call out the illiberal actions of our very own government," it read.

Earlier this week, Kennedy vowed to pardon Snowden and that he was considering a similar move for Assange, who faces extradition to the U.S.

"In fact, Edward Snowden is an American hero. Instead of jailing Snowden, I'm going to build a statue to him and maybe to Julian Assange somewhere near the Washington Press Club or perhaps outside the CIA headquarters in Langley as a civics lesson to the Republic," he said.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.