RFK Jr. takes advantage of Trump’s verdict to bolster support

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is using former President Trump’s guilty verdict in a secret trial in New York to woo voters on the fence about the former president’s conviction.

Kennedy, who is running as an independent, criticized the decision last week, calling it “profoundly undemocratic” and suggesting the trial was a political ploy by Democrats to hurt their main Republican rival.

His comments come as he looks for ways to expand his support among many of the same voters Trump is targeting — as well as independents disenchanted with the top picks.

“This conviction will backfire on the Democrats,” Kennedy said in an appearance on Fox News after the jury’s decision was made public. “I think every time President Trump is indicted, his approval ratings go up, his popularity goes up.”

Echoing the views of many on the right, Kennedy argues that Democrats’ embrace of the Trump investigation makes them appear politically motivated and entrenched in a corrupt system. He argues this exposes government agencies as highly partisan.

Despite the optics, Trump’s legal problems do not prevent him from winning the White House for a second time. After being found guilty of falsifying business records by the Manhattan district attorney, it’s unclear how he will be affected in November. Trump’s campaign announced that it had raised $141 million along with the Republican National Committee in May — a huge sum for any election cycle, but especially for a candidate embroiled in legal drama.

With Trump showing no signs of slowing down, some Kennedy supporters believe the verdict could also have a positive impact on the independent candidate.

“There could be a slice of independents who supported Trump but now feel some fatigue, especially with the convictions,” said a source close to the Kennedy campaign. “If Bobby can get on the debate stage, this would be a great opportunity to talk to these people.”

Biden and his allies increased their rhetoric against the former president and intensified their fundraising appeals following the verdict. Meanwhile, Kennedy trained his attacks not on Trump, but on the Democrats.

His actions come as some Republicans argue that the Trump news could benefit the current president.

“I actually think the verdict could hurt RFK and help Biden,” said Brian Seitchik, a Republican strategist who served on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

It is unclear how the verdict will resonate with the electorate in November. But some argue that voters who were previously hesitant about Biden and who were considering supporting Kennedy could see Trump’s conviction as the final straw that tipped them into the Biden camp, amid concerns that Kennedy’s presence in ballot boxes could help elect Trump.

“There is a large bloc of people who voted for Biden in 2020 who have moved into the ‘double hate’ category,” Seitchik said. “I believe this Trump verdict will force those people who were probably predisposed to vote for Biden but dissatisfied with his failed leadership… to turn to Biden to ‘stop Trump’.”

“This verdict forces reluctant Biden voters camped out in RFK Land to return to Biden Land,” Seitchik added. “I’ll be watching RFK Jr.’s poll numbers over the next week, through 10 days and beyond, in swing states. That’s really the group that matters.”

Polls have shown mixed results for who Kennedy suffers most. In the early days of his switch to an independent ticket, Democrats were more confused than Republicans about the possibility that he would undermine their side. But the most recent polls also showed that he was withdrawing some support from Trump, and the former president’s allies stepped up their attacks accordingly.

“It’s still relatively unclear and may vary quite a bit from state to state,” said Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) who recently conducted a battleground poll with Kennedy as an option in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. .

“As we get closer to election day, voters who choose a third party as an expression of their dissatisfaction tend to go home a little,” he said. “They align with your most likely partisan voting inclinations.”

“Even though in our polls we have RFK Jr. at 10 percent, my suspicion is that those voters probably won’t stay at that volume,” he said.

The FAU The poll, conducted with Mainstreet Research, found that if Kennedy is a candidate on the ballot by the time of the general election in the fall, he will increase Biden’s overall chances against Trump in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two key swing states. Biden is currently slightly behind Trump in the two states without Kennedy in the mix.

Kennedy has stepped up his attempt to appeal to — or at least not alienate — Trump supporters through conservative hosts like Ben Shapiro and traditional right-wing news appearances. His interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters, where he said he didn’t want to “beat Trump in a court of law” — a not-so-subtle dig at Democrats — is the first segment featured on his campaign website.

But Kennedy still faces a mountain of challenges. Public perception of him, multiple sources said, is still being formed. Others say his lack of a clear message and political agenda beyond his anti-establishment sentiment and the appeal of his famous nickname is not strong enough to match his opponents. The Kennedy era is past the public spotlight, skeptics argue.

“I don’t think RFK himself is really getting any support with anyone,” GOP political consultant Keith Naughton said of RFK’s standing with voters after the verdict. “I don’t see him picking up anything. What does he have to say? He has nothing to say about the trail that he hasn’t said before.”

“He doesn’t have a message,” Naughton added. “He’s just absorbing these protest votes.”

Seitchik agreed. “The majority of their voters are really anti-Trump and anti-Biden,” he said. “I don’t think there are many people out there who are die-hard RFK Jr. voters.”

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