(PatriotWise.com) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign is banking on siphoning votes from both Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the general election, but only one of the two major parties’ nominees seems to have a plan to do something about it, Axios reported.
The Biden campaign and the DNC have assigned dedicated teams to the threat Kennedy poses to the president’s reelection, while the Trump campaign, believing that RFK Jr. will draw more voters away from Biden, has taken a more watch-and-see approach to the third-party candidate.
While no third-party candidate has ever defeated the major-party nominees, Kennedy’s polling has been better than any third-party presidential candidate since Ross Perot over thirty years ago. And in a presidential race that is likely to be decided in a handful of battleground states, the Kennedy campaign could easily shift the balance for either Trump or Biden.
For the Biden team, Kennedy’s presence in the race threatens the campaign’s election message that 2024 is a binary choice between the stability of Joe Biden or the chaos of Donald Trump.
The DNC is accusing Kennedy of being a “stalking horse” candidate for Donald Trump. Both Trump and Kennedy share a billionaire donor, Tom Mellon. Mellon donated $15 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. and $20 million to Kennedy’s super PAC.
The DNC also filed a complaint against Kennedy’s campaign with the Federal Election Commission alleging that it was illegally coordinating with the super PAC American Values 2024, which has been working to get Kennedy on the ballot in multiple states.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has enlisted the help of members of the Kennedy family, sending a clear message that even RFK Jr.’s family supports the president.
DNC spokesman Matt Corridoni accused the RNC of working to “prop up” Kennedy and other third-party candidates “to make them stalking horses” for Trump. Corridoni told Axios that the DNC was going to ensure that voters were “educated” about that.
The Trump campaign is not spending any resources on Kennedy. However, unlike the Biden campaign and the DNC, the Trump campaign doesn’t have the cash to spare for such a dedicated operation.
The Trump campaign views Kennedy’s third-party run as more of a problem for Biden than Trump.
Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear told Axios that RFK Jr. has a higher favorability than either Biden or Trump and “outpaces” the two candidates among independent voters.
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