Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered President Joe Biden a “no-spoiler” pledge during a campaign event in New York on Wednesday. The proposal comes amidst a ongoing feud between Kennedy and former President Donald Trump.
The proposal, as outlined, involves Kennedy and Biden jointly financing a comprehensive nationwide survey of over 30,000 individuals in mid-October. The survey aims to compare the performance of each candidate against Trump in a head-to-head race. Furthermore, both Kennedy and Biden agree that the candidate who fares the poorest against Trump will withdraw from the presidential race.
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After showing results from a campaign-commissioned poll that showed scenarios in which he might defeat both Biden and Trump in separate head-to-head races, Kennedy said that Biden, not him, is the “spoiler” in the race.
Democrats promptly dismissed the idea on Wednesday. In a statement, Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corridoni described Kennedy as a spoiler candidate, claiming that his “VEEP-like performance today does nothing to dispel that notion—iit only reinforces how deeply unserious his campaign is,” referring to the HBO comedy.
Initially campaigning as a Democrat in accordance with the Kennedy family, the presidential candidate later switched parties to run as an independent. In March, RFK announced Nicole Shanahan, a California-based attorney and entrepreneur, as his running partner in his long-shot presidential campaign.
According to a national poll released on April 18, RFK looks to be attracting voters aged 18 to 34 and 35 to 49 away from Donald Trump. Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research conducted a study that shows President Joe Biden leading Donald Trump by one point. However, the inclusion of RFK on the test ballot increased Biden’s lead over Trump to five points.
Trump attacked RFK in a series of posts on his Truth Social account approximately a week after the survey was out, referring to him as a Democrat “plant.”
“A vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE that could swing either way but would only swing against the Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him,” Trump said in a statement on Twitter.
RFK’s campaign has committed to getting “Bobby on the ballot” in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the general election on November 5, although this will be difficult without the assistance of either the Democratic or Republican parties.
The campaign claims to have collected enough signatures for ballot access in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, and Iowa. The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is now on the ballot in Utah and Michigan.
During the event on Wednesday, RFK claimed that his campaign had already received enough signatures to gain ballot access in New York but that it was still collecting them.
