RFK Jr.’s latest tweet widely understood as white supremacist dog whistle
A tweet from the account of Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday used language that many observers say evokes the known Nazi hate symbol “1488.”
A post on the candidate’s official Twitter account used the numbers 14 and 88 in close proximity.
Kennedy has not responded to HuffPost’s request for comment or explained the post elsewhere as of Friday afternoon. It’s not clear whether he personally approved the tweet.
His post on Twitter (which recently rebranded as X) was trying to shame President Joe Biden into providing Secret Service protection for him. It said presidential candidates have been provided Secret Service protection “since the assassination of my father in 1968.”
He added: “But not me. Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days. After 88-days of no response and after several follow-ups by our campaign, the Biden Administration just denied our request.”
Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me.
Typical turnaround time for pro forma protection requests from presidential candidates is 14-days. After 88-days of no response and after several…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 28, 2023
“1488” is a known white supremacist symbol, according to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. The “14” in the symbol is shorthand for the “14 Words” slogan that is popular with racists around the world, while the “88” stands for “Heil Hitler,” since “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet. [Continue reading…]