Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s likely disruption to the 2024 general election left one camp “anxious” and prepared to drop “napalm after napalm” pending a Monday announcement.
Since the environmental lawyer announced his bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination, much ado has been given about his positions that could attract moderates away from President Joe Biden in the primary. However, after the Democratic National Committee failed to provide oxygen to the Kennedy campaign, an anticipated relaunch as an Independent left allies backing former President Donald Trump on edge.
Insiders from the GOP frontrunner’s campaign spoke with Semafor and addressed in-house polling data that found a third-party bid from Kennedy hurt Trump even more than a similar effort from Cornel West hurt Biden.
“It’s single digits, but it’s enough where it counts to make a difference,” someone familiar with the polling told the outlet.
As a result of “anxious” allies, the campaign and supporters had positioned to push out messaging from opposition research. “We’re gonna be dropping napalm after napalm on his head reminding the public of his very liberal views, dating back to 2012,” an unnamed source told Semafor. “We have a lot of stuff on him.”
The big announcement from Kennedy, scheduled to broadcast from Philadelphia on Oct. 9, had been described by one of his own insiders as reflective of the DNC’s behavior leading up to primary voting. “Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go.”
RFK Jr. reportedly set to launch third party run, teases major announcement https://t.co/2OvDBheb5s pic.twitter.com/pOSr12sjGh
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) October 4, 2023
While the legacy candidate expressed his concern about “rigging” by the Democrats to make certain their preferred horse is backed in the race for the White House, another individual described as a “Trump-aligned operative” spoke to the current impression of Kennedy, known for taking aim at the deep state and the dangerous practices of Big Pharma.
“He used to be a fun plaything to hurt Biden, now he is something that could hurt the GOP,” the individual told Semafor.
In June, Kennedy had responded to a stated opinion from Trump who had described the Democrat as “…smart, and he’s a common-sense guy,” in part by saying, “And so I’m proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don’t agree with him on most issues. Because I don’t want to alienate people. I want to bring people together. I’m proud that all these people like me and that I have independent supporters and Democratic supporters and that I’m able to bring a lot of people together.”
Meanwhile, Semafor drew attention to a Daily Caller story published Friday titled “RFK Jr. Once Said Farmers Were Worse Than Bin Laden Just Months After 9/11” and indicated it was “not clear if it’s related” to the planned salvo against the candidate.
The April 2002 statement that “factory meat integrators are more threatening to democracy than Osama bin Laden,” promoted his views that political corruption and pollution were a more serious threat to the country than an “outside terrorist group like Osama bin Laden, who is clearly evil–our democracy is too durable to suffer any real damage from external threats.”
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung dismissed concerns that Kennedy would hurt the president’s third run for office with a claim that “every single poll” showed a likely victorious return to Washington, D.C. “President Trump is leading by wide margins in every single poll — both nationally and statewide — in the primary and general elections. The fact is that President Trump will beat Biden because he’s the only person who can supercharge the economy, secure our border, safeguard communities, and put an end to unnecessary wars. Americans want to return to a prosperous nation and there’s only one person who can do that — President Trump.”
By contrast, an insider from Kennedy’s campaign had suggested to Mediaite, “This is going to f*ck Trump…Bobby’s values are much more in line with patriots. He’s against Big Pharma. He’s pro-Bitcoin. Decentralize so the government can’t control it.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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