COLOMBIA, SC – COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Donald Trump is known for launching constant and often personal attacks on prominent rivals like Joe Biden. Lately, he is increasingly taking the same approach against independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Among the recent jabs, Trump last week published a roughly four-minute video online in which he called Kennedy a “phony,” a “factory Democrat” and a “radical left liberal who was put in place” to help the Democratic president. Trump criticized the Kennedy family as “a bunch of lunatics.”
“He’s not a Republican, so don’t think you’re going to vote for him and feel good,” the former president and presumptive Republican nominee told supporters in the Truth Social post.
Directing such fierce attacks on Kennedy could signal Trump and his campaign’s concern about the independent candidacy in elections expected to be close in November, when a hopeful third party that can divert even a small amount of support could sink a major party. candidates.
Six months before an election day in which many Americans expressed their dissatisfaction with a rematch between Trump and Biden, Kennedy has offered himself as an alternative. Some of the issues Kennedy focuses on — strong support for Israel and criticism of COVID-19 lockdowns — could appeal more to conservative voters than Democrats.
Polls right now show that many more Republicans than Democrats have a favorable opinion of Kennedy, even though many Americans don’t know who he is. A February poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about half of Republicans, 53%, had a favorable view of him, compared with 30% of Democrats. About a quarter in each case said they didn’t know enough about Kennedy to say.
Kennedy’s campaign argues that he threatens both Trump and Biden, who has the support of several members of Kennedy’s own family and called the endorsement “an incredible honor.” The president largely ignored Kennedy, who previously challenged him for the Democratic nomination before launching an independent bid.
Kennedy also went after Trump, challenging him to a debate when the two men speak – on separate days – at the Libertarian Party convention later this month. Kennedy claims Trump supporters are “wavering” in their support for him.
But Kennedy faces difficult challenges.
As an independent candidate, your name appearing on the ballot is not automatic. He had to work to ensure access to the polls in all 50 states, a process Kennedy said will be completed this summer. According to his campaign, he reached that milestone in five states — California, Delaware, Michigan, Oklahoma and Utah — with enough signatures collected for eight others. Authorities have not verified these numbers in some states.
Kennedy argued that his rather strong performance in some national polls gives him a reason to consider himself competitive, although horse racing polls are generally unreliable this far out from an election. This is not a new trend for third-party candidates in presidential elections. During the 2016 campaign, early national polls showed Libertarian Gary Johnson’s support in the single- and double-digit range; he ultimately received only about 3% of the popular vote.
Supporters who flock to Kennedy events, including a recent comedy screening in a Detroit suburb, describe themselves as coming from across the political spectrum, from those who traditionally support third-party presidential efforts to disaffected Democratic and Republican voters. This included those who previously supported Biden and Trump but who are now jaded or unenthusiastic about them.
Ben Carter, a registered nurse from White Lake, Michigan, said he supported Trump in 2016 but “couldn’t do it again,” opting for Biden four years later. This year, Carter said he admired Kennedy’s willingness to tackle difficult topics, seeing the independent candidate as willing to express unpopular views but doing so in a more palatable way than Trump.
“I just don’t hear Kennedy going out, lying about things. Trump, he just stands in front of the camera and lies through his teeth about things that we know to be true,” Carter said. “He has opinions that you might not agree with, but I’ve never seen him get up in front of a crowd and just lie to people.”
Trump supporters admit they are curious about Kennedy’s candidacy, even as they remain fiercely loyal to Trump.
“He’s super interesting,” said Kim Hanson, a financial consultant from Hartford, Wisconsin, on the sidelines of Trump’s recent rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “I love hearing about him.”
But Hanson, a Trump supporter, said she fears the novelty appeal of voting for Kennedy could diminish Trump’s support.
“I’m worried about people voting for people they don’t think are going to make it, and they’re not voting for Trump,” she said.
There are some issue areas where Kennedy and Trump seem aligned.
Like Trump, Kennedy has been a fierce defender of Israel in its war with Hamas. In April, he suggested that the prosecution of protesters who violently attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, could be politically motivated, aligning in part with the false portrayal promoted by Trump and his allies.
Kennedy made some criticisms of Trump, saying that the attack on the Capitol happened with Trump’s “encouragement” and “in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him.” But Kennedy also said that as president he would appoint a special adviser. to examine whether Trump’s allies were unfairly singled out for prosecution.
Kennedy also blamed Trump for the economic damage to the middle class. Kennedy called the pandemic-era lockdowns “the worst thing he did to this country,” although he acknowledged in the same speech that Trump “is to blame for many things he didn’t do.”
Like Trump, Kennedy — a lifelong Catholic who described himself as “pro-choice” — has taken contradictory positions on abortion. He supported, then backed away from, the idea of a 15-week federal abortion ban, but says he disagrees with Trump that the issue should be left to state governments.
Bernard Tamas, a professor at Valdosta State University who studies third-party presidential campaigns, noted that Kennedy’s political positions, such as his skepticism about vaccines and his unyielding support for Israel in the war with Hamas, are “more likely to appeal to voters conservatives.” an apparent threat to Trump at this stage.
“It is quite possible that RFK will hurt Trump more (than Biden), especially since it is unlikely that there are any other moderate independent candidates that never-Trumpers could vote for,” Tamas said.
Tamas said even single-digit support for Kennedy could affect the outcome of the general election.
“Losing even a small percentage of the vote to candidates like RFK Jr. could easily swing the election from one major party candidate to another,” Tamas said.
Brian Schimming, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, said he expects Kennedy to withdraw support from Trump and Biden, perhaps from Trump early in the campaign but more from Biden in the future. He said Republicans have greater enthusiasm for the former president than Democrats do for the current president.
“But what does an incidental voter do, or a voter who consciously tells himself that he doesn’t feel strongly enough about any of these candidates?” said Schimming, a veteran Republican operative in Wisconsin. “In the end, they take votes away from the weakest candidate because they are dissatisfied, which in my opinion is Biden.”
Desiree Sherdin, a small business owner from Germantown, Wisconsin, said at Trump’s rally in her state that Kennedy’s views “tend to go to the left” of her preference, although she agreed with his skepticism about vaccines. She said she would stick with Trump and imagined many others would too.
“People who are loyal to Trump are extremely loyal,” she said.
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Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, Linley Sanders in Washington and Scott Bauer in Waukesha, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.
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