Los Angeles Times

Jean Guerrero: RFK Jr.'s left-wing appeal in LA is no joke

In this photo from April 28, 2022, Cheryl Hines and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. attend Barron& Tessa Hilton Host GODDESS Art Show in Bel Air, California.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has plenty of fans in Los Angeles, including at the iconic bodybuilding hub Gold's Gym, where he's been pumping iron, filming strongman-style propaganda and exposing his gray-haired chiseled chest.

The 69-year-old presidential candidate, who is a leading superspreader of vaccine skepticism and MAGA's favorite Democrat, is seducing Americans with his muscles, family name and question-everything stance, which his supporters see not as dangerous conspiracism but as the courageous truth.

His base is nowhere near large enough to secure him the nomination, but his campaign pose a threat to a Biden reelection because it stokes left-wing distrust in democracy. Believe in conspiracism. Kennedy's popularity on L.A.'s Westside, a hot spot of conspirituality — where wellness and spirituality meet conspiracy theories — explains why.

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