Police forced to break up farmer’s market clash over RFK Jr

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Rhinebeck Democratic Committee, the pro-Biden group, reportedly held up a sign that read: “We do NOT support RFK Jr.” “​When people came up, he talked to them about, you know, vaccines are bad, and masking is bad, and all the stuff that RFK says,” Larry Cox, a member of the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee, told The Daily Beast. “The problem is that being right next to us, people were thinking that he was part of us.” The chair of the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee, Warren Smith, told the publication that typically, people disagreeing over who the Democratic nominee should be would be one thing, but “this is kind of a different thing because RFK Jr has staked out a position that is on the fringes of the party.” The Kennedy supporter, disagreed, arguing, “Why there should be any dispute about the nomination being contested, I can’t understand.” The exchange became so heated, though, that the police had to get involved—twice—according to the Hudson Valley Pilot. Another member of the pro-Biden camp, Roger Quon, agreed with Mr Stoppenbach, saying the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee should “be seen as a place for all Democrats.” He continued, “We can disagree with on one or many points, but that’s the essence of democracy.” The Kennedy supporter told The Daily Beast that he was trying to raise awareness about RFK Jr, and encouraged a primary debate between the Democratic candidates. “I’m 83 years old, so I don’t quite have the energy I did when I was a young guy running for Congress,” he said, adding, but, “you never know.” The Biden-Kennedy farmer’s market feud is a perfect example of what is going on at a national scale, as supporters of the president have become frustrated by Mr Kennedy’s candidacy, as he is the only person running for the Democratic nomination against the incumbent who is cutting into his poll numbers, according to FiveThirtyEight polls.