Experts say 'barely relevant' RFK Jr. endorsement of Trump makes GOP ticket 'even weirder'

21 August 2024

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly planning to drop out of the 2024 race and endorse former President Donald Trump this week. That news has prompted both scorn and ridicule from various journalists, pundits and pollsters covering the election.

On Wednesday, ABC News reported that the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was expected to announce his formal support of Trump's third bid for the White House by the end of the week "in order to try to blunt momentum from the Democratic National Convention." While he told the outlet he wouldn't "confirm or deny" those reports, he may appear onstage with Trump at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday.

Author and podcaster Jared Yates Sexton tweeted that the news of RFK Jr.'s impending exit from the race was "another indicator that Trump's campaign is in free fall."

"Likely they’ve promised RFK something in return and the push to hurt the Democratic ticket through him has completely imploded," Sexton wrote.

Former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum — an anti-Trump conservative — also remarked that RFK Jr.'s campaign failed to drive a big enough wedge in the Democratic coalition.

"The RFK Jr campaign was a $-multimillion gambit by Trump donors to divert poorly informed votes from the Democratic ticket. The scheme backfired when RFK Jr diverted poorly informed Republicans instead," he tweeted. "Funny or sad?"

Like Sexton mentioned, RFK Jr.'s candidacy was initially concerning for Democrats, as his surname is associated with titans of the Democratic Party like his father, the slain President John F. Kennedy and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), who died in 2009. The news of the independent candidate's probable exit comes after numerous polls showed that his campaign was actually drawing in more potential Republican voters than Democratic supporters. A Washington Post analysis found that would-be Trump supporters were even warmer to RFK Jr.'s campaign after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July.

Larry Sabato, who is the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, opined that Trump's campaign wouldn't see that much of a boost if RFK Jr. did end up endorsing him. Sabato referred to the independent's campaign as "barely relevant," as he's lately been unable to breach the 5% mark despite polling in the teens earlier this year. He added that an RFK Jr. endorsement "makes [the] Trump-Vance ticket even weirder."

Early on in his candidacy when he was still running against Biden for the Democratic nomination, RFK Jr. attracted some support from the left for his previous activism on climate change, railing against the pharmaceutical industry and his successful lawsuit against agricultural giant Monsanto. But David Corn, who is Mother Jones' D.C. bureau chief, observed that if he did end up endorsing Trump, it would forever tarnish any progressive legacy he hoped to build.

"If RFK Jr. endorses Trump, it will demonstrate he doesn’t care anything about climate change, clean air and water, women’s freedom, democracy and the rule of law," Corn tweeted. "Just one disingenuous conspiracy-theory-monger joining forces with another. A sad ending to a once noble brand."

Legal expert Chris Geidner, who publishes the Law Dork newsletter on Substack, was more direct in his criticism: "The RFK Jr. run has always been a scam, so there is no one he could ever endorse other than the man whose whole life has been a scam. RFK Jr. and Trump are one, and your push alerts are unnecessary."

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