Democrats in New Hampshire have a bone to pick (or perhaps it’s a quill) with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his plan to speak next week at the Porcupine Freedom Festival, commonly called PorcFest.
In a letter Friday to Kennedy’s campaign, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley warned that the annual event is organized by the Free State Project, which he called a “libertarian extremist organization.” It’s no place for a prominent Democrat to dignify with a visit, he wrote.
“As a candidate for the presidency and a figure who commands considerable public attention, your presence at PorcFest will be seen as an endorsement of the Free State Project and its radical goals,” Buckley wrote. “Your presence will lend legitimacy to an extremist movement that aggressively works against the interests of New Hampshire residents.”
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The project is a movement that sprang from an essay penned more than two decades ago. The basic idea is that liberty-lovers from all over would move to New Hampshire in droves and assert their political influence to shape public policy and establish a libertarian utopia.
But Buckley said the Free Staters have a “dark, dystopian philosophy” that’s “fundamentally at odds with” the party’s values. The movement has had a negative impact on New Hampshire, he wrote, as Free Staters undermine funding for public schools, promote “absolute unrestricted access to firearms,” and advocate for New Hampshire to secede from the nation.
“These stances are not only contrary to the values of the Democratic Party but also, we believe, detrimental to the well-being of the people of New Hampshire,” Buckley wrote, urging Kennedy to reconsider his decision to attend and speak at PorcFest.
Kennedy publicly rebuffed Buckley’s letter. In a series of tweets, he said Democratic party bosses are promoting censorship and shutting down debate, while stripping New Hampshire of its “rightful” status as having the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
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“I’m going to speak at Porcfest because I believe in freedom, unity, healing the divide, and truth,” he wrote.
“This trend of ‘canceling’ anyone who appears at the wrong event or speaks with the wrong person is antithetical to the democratic ideal of debate and the free exchange of ideas,” he added.
Kennedy’s anti-censorship message echoes his past criticism of social media giants and others who have called him out for spreading misinformation about the safety of vaccines. Kennedy’s long-running crusade against vaccines has been denounced by medical professionals and fellow members of the political dynasty into which he was born.
New Hampshire GOP Chairman Chris Ager said the Democratic Party is trying to “muzzle” Kennedy “because he is a threat to their chosen and flawed candidate,” incumbent President Biden.
“Let everyone’s voice be heard and then the people, not party bosses, can decide,” Ager said. “The Democrats have become the anti-free speech party.”
Ager said Biden and the Democratic National Committee had “abandoned” New Hampshire after pushing South Carolina to the front of the party-approved 2024 presidential nominating calendar.
“I say let RFK Jr. get his message to whomever he wants,” Ager said.
Bruce Fenton, a businessman who ran in the GOP primary for US Senate last fall, said establishment Democrats are trying to “deplatform” a member of their own party after rearranging the 2024 calendar to favors states where Biden is more popular.
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Carla Gericke, a board member for the Free State Project, called Buckley’s letter a miscalculation.
The letter came on the same day that the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee gave New Hampshire an extension, until Sept. 1, to comply with the party’s demands for the 2024 nominating calendar, as Politico reported.
But there doesn’t appear to be much appetite in New Hampshire for the DNC’s plan. A state law requires New Hampshire to hold its primary a week earlier than any similar contest, and state officials have vowed to vote first with or without the DNC’s blessing.
While in New Hampshire earlier this month, Kennedy said he plans to connect with independents by speaking out against surveillance and warfare, and speaking up for the middle class and building a strong American economy. When asked by the Globe about PorcFest, he acknowledged that he’s scheduled to speak at the event.
“I welcome support from the libertarians,” he said. “I have tremendous support in that cohort.”
Kennedy’s campaign spokesperson, Stefanie Spear, previously told the Globe that Kennedy was invited to speak at PorcFest and expects to find a range of viewpoints at the event, including many that Kennedy doesn’t share.
“On the way to winning the general election, the campaign aims to reclaim values that the Democratic Party has abandoned, and voters who have abandoned the Party,” Spear said. “There will undoubtedly be such people — disaffected Democrats — at the event.”
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In April, before Biden and Kennedy launched their 2024 campaigns, a poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found the incumbent president was the first pick for 25 percent of likely Democratic voters, while Kennedy was first for about 2 percent.
Since then, Kennedy has gained ground in national polls but consistently trailed Biden by 40 points or more.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @reporterporter.