According to the latest NBC News polling, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent campaign for president seems to have a greater impact on Donald Trump rather than President Joe Biden.
In a direct comparison, Trump is currently ahead of Biden by a margin of 2 percent. However, when taking into account the presence of third-party candidates, Biden emerges as the frontrunner, capturing 39 percent of the vote compared to Trump’s 37 percent and Kennedy’s 13 percent. The remaining candidates, Jill Stein and Cornel West, receive 3 percent and 2 percent of the vote respectively.
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In the polling data, it is revealed that 15 percent of respondents who initially favored Trump in a head-to-head match-up have switched their support to Kennedy in a five-way race. On the other hand, Biden only loses 7 percent of his support when Kennedy and other candidates are included in the race.
Republican voters overwhelmingly support Kennedy, with 40 percent expressing a favorable opinion of the candidate. In contrast, only 15 percent have a negative opinion of him. On the other hand, a majority of Democratic voters hold a negative view of Kennedy, with just 16 percent viewing him positively.
Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, who conducted the NBC News survey along with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, suggests that Kennedy’s appeal seems to resonate more with Trump supporters rather than Biden voters.
Contrary to the results of other national polls, the findings challenge the notion that a larger third-party vote would have a more detrimental impact on Biden than Trump. In response to these surveys, the Biden campaign has actively sought to appeal to Kennedy voters. This effort was evident during a recent campaign stop in Philadelphia, where the president highlighted endorsements from various members of the Kennedy family.
According to McInturuff, it is possible that NBC News is an exception in this case. However, he also mentioned that our survey might be an indication of what we can expect in the future.
