Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Could Pull Both Trump, Biden Voters as Independent Candidate

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Kirill Krasilnikov - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running as an independent presidential candidate could potentially pull voters from both the Democrat and Republican camps due to his family name as well as his controversial views on vaccines, experts told Sputnik.

Earlier in the week, Kennedy Jr., a nephew of former US President John F. Kennedy, announced ending his campaign as a 2024 presidential candidate on the platform of the Democratic Party and running as an independent candidate. He went on to claim that the Democratic and the Republican parties had turned into a "two-headed monster that is constantly bickering with itself" and that more and more voters refused to be associated with them. About 63% of US citizens want an independent candidate to run for president, Kennedy said.

In June, political analyst Keith Preston told Sputnik that the Democratic Party and the partisan media would "pull out all stops" to ensure that Kennedy’s campaign fails. Now that Kennedy is running as an independent, the expert did not rule out the possibility of him playing a role similar to that of Ross Perot in 1992, when the Texas billionaire won almost 19% of the vote and allegedly cost George H.W. Bush reelection. At the same time, Preston highlighted the issue of Kennedy achieving ballot access in all 50 states without a supportive party apparatus.

"Another issue is whether he can compete with the major party candidates in advertising. Kennedy has significant financial support, though it is unknown whether it will be sufficient to wage a competitive campaign against the major parties," Preston continued.

When asked about Kennedy siphoning off voters from either Biden or Trump in a potential three-way contest, Preston suggested that Kennedy may appeal to some people who would otherwise support Trump, although the Republicans are likely to ramp up rhetorical attacks against him now that he is an independent candidate.

"But Kennedy also comes from Democratic royalty, which will likely enhance his appeal to at least some Democratic voters, particularly those who are dissatisfied with Biden’s performance or skeptical of Biden’s personal competence. At the same time, Kennedy’s strong pro-Israel stance and his heterodox position on vaccines are likely to alienate some further left-leaning Democratic voters," the expert explained.

Paul Gottfried, the editor-in-chief of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture and Raffensperger professor of humanities emeritus at Elizabethtown College, thinks that Kennedy's candidacy could, on balance, undermine Biden more than Trump.

"I would think that given his relatively conservative views on some subjects, such as his hostility to [former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony] Fauci and the COVID vaccine, and his criticism of some of the features of the woke Left, he would draw mostly from Trump and the Republicans. But that might not be the case. Trump’s base is quite solid; and the Kennedy name is still magical among an older generation of Democrats," Gottfried suggested.