RFK Jr. Faces a Torrent of Negative Headlines

The cascade of negative headlines for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatens to completely derail his presidential campaign, less than three months before Election Day.

The latest scandal is over an article in The New Yorker that reported that the environmental lawyer threw a dead baby bear into Central Park and tried to make it look like it was the result of a bicycle accident. In an attempt to get ahead of the story, Kennedy released a video with comedian Rosanne Barr in which he admitted to having staged the event.

The story emerged after a Vanity Fair article showed Kennedy standing next to a grilled and charred animal carcass, which the article suggested appeared to be a dog. Kennedy said the animal was a goat.

That article followed a report from The New York Times that he said a parasitic worm ate part of his brain.

The peculiar and largely negative news cycle is sending Kennedy’s candidacy situation into a downward spiral, exposing him to attacks on his candidacy from third parties as his poll numbers decline.

“These stories don’t help,” said Democratic strategist Basil Smikle. “Where Donald Trump managed to create a movement around his candidacy, RFK Jr.

Kennedy has had a difficult time in recent months, unable to get around several lengthy magazine profiles that delved into strange details of her past, including an allegation of sexual misconduct.

He confronted each story with criticism of the media outlets exploiting his story as he sought the Oval Office. His most recent strategy was to post a video on X explaining the 2014 bear release as a joke.

“We thought it would be fun for whoever found it,” Kennedy, 70, said in his video, which he distributed on social media over the weekend. “Looking forward to seeing how you spin this one, @NewYorker.”

“Maybe that’s where I got my brain worm,” Kennedy joked to The New Yorker.

A Kennedy supporter joined his anti-media sentiment. “Obviously a success,” said the source, adding that he “grabbed [the cub] off the road” before discarding it in the park. “One of the people he was with suggested they put her on an old bicycle and leave her in Central Park,” the pro-Kennedy source added.

But Democrats see the recent revelations as adding to numerous concerns about Kennedy.

“The @NewYorker profile of @RobertKennedyJr makes a damning case against him — that he is a reckless, narcissistic nepo baby who is seriously mentally ill,” Democratic strategist Lis Smith wrote on X.

Smith, who is consulting with the Democratic National Committee on a crackdown on Kennedy, sees him as a liability in the race.

“He is someone who has never cared about the consequences of his actions, including in this race,” she wrote.

Democratic groups took the lead in attacking Kennedy, with the White House staying out of the melee. The DNC has been at the forefront of what party officials see as a possible threat to President Biden and now Vice President Harris’ candidacy against former President Trump. Other liberal groups have also joined their effort, with several organizations holding conference calls to outline its growing flaws.

“The more we learn about RFK Jr., the more evidence we find of his bizarre and abusive behavior,” said Britt Jacovich, who serves as political director at MoveOn Political Action.

“His abusive treatment of women makes him unfit for office. Their bizarre behavior towards dead animals is disgusting and disqualifying,” Jacovich said. “RFK Jr. is showing the American people who he really is, which is why his entire campaign is in the gutter.”

Even amid the onslaught of unfavorable press, Democrats are still worried that Kennedy could narrow their margins against Trump and possibly even help the former president win.

That conventional wisdom changed somewhat after Biden officially declared he would not seek a second term and Harris ascended as his successor. It now appears, according to available polls, that he could harm Trump more than Harris. But the limited data is not conclusive, experts warn.

Kennedy previously hovered comfortably in the double digits for an extended period after leaving the Democratic primary to become an independent. Although Biden and Trump were unpopular, Kennedy had a small but conceivable opening — enough to make Democrats fearful and move to discredit him.

But his latest figures show a shift in public opinion surrounding his candidacy, as more information about his past is revealed in the final stage of the cycle.

A new news from CBSsurveyshows that Kennedy gets just 2% support while competing with Harris, Trump, and other third-party candidates such as Jill Stein, Cornel West, and Chase Oliver, who each receive 0% support. Other polls show it slightly higher, including a Wall Street Journalsurveythis put him at 4% among registered voters in the sample.

“It appears that Team Kennedy is trying to leverage the 5% with both the Trump and Kamala camps,” the Kennedy ally said. “I think this is going to get real real when Bobby is officially on all 50 state ballots.”

Republicans now working against Trump also questioned Kennedy’s choices as a candidate. Many consider him not very serious, but they still wonder if he can play the dreaded role of spoiler to help the 45th president.

“Everything I learned about RFK Jr. was against my will,” wrote Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served in the Trump administration and spoke out strongly against Trump’s bid, on X.

Trump’s current allies are mostly withholding judgment, at least publicly, about where Kennedy might end up in the fall reckoning. A phone call between the two candidates generated talk that Kennedy could seek a role in a possible second Trump administration, but he and his closest associates stopped short of offering a formal role at this time.

Smikle noted that although Trump has been in the race much longer than Kennedy, the independent candidate has yet to gain much traction despite his “popular name.”

“More now than ever, I think he has missed a significant window to try to turn any of the voters away from Trump,” he said. “These stories that keep coming out, making him seem very marginal, not even aligned with Trump voters, should say a lot about where he is now.”

Jared Gans contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story