Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly described former President Trump as a “terrible human being” and called him “the worst president in history” in a recent text message exchange reported by The New Yorker magazine on Monday.
“In a recent text exchange, Kennedy told one person that Trump is ‘a terrible person, the worst president ever, barely human. He’s probably a sociopath,'” The New Yorker’s Claire Malone wrote in a profile of Kennedy. Released on Monday.
But Kennedy said Biden is “more dangerous to the republic and to the planet” than Trump.
Trump and Kennedy spoke by phone ahead of last month’s Republican National Convention, where Kennedy was formally nominated as the Republican presidential candidate.
In a leaked video of the call, Trump can be heard on speakerphone saying he agrees with some of Kennedy’s positions on vaccines.
Trump also told the unlikely candidate “I want you to do something,” adding that it would be “very good” for Kennedy. “We’re going to win,” Trump also said, according to the footage.
Kennedy apologized for leaking the call shortly after it was posted online.
Amaryllis Fox, Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law, told The New Yorker that Trump and his team asked Kennedy, “Is there anything you’d like to do?”
Fox said Kennedy wouldn’t be opposed to working in the Trump administration, calling the possibility of leading the Department of Health and Human Services a “very interesting” role. Kennedy, who switched from Democrat to independent status last fall, said he would be open to serving in Vice President Harris’ administration if she were elected in November.
Kennedy is struggling to gain significant support in the 2024 election: The environmental lawyer is garnering 4.2% of the vote, compared with 45.9% for Harris and 44.4% for Trump, according to the Decision Desk HQ polling index.
In an interview with The New Yorker, Kennedy acknowledged that it was unlikely he would become president.
“I think I was always aware that it was a dangerous thing to do. [the presidency] “My ambitions were such that I knew, at least deep down, that I would never be able to achieve them,” he told the magazine.
Malone later suggested that Trump’s 2016 election victory had changed his thinking about his political future because, like him, Trump “had something to hide,” he wrote.
“I think this has expanded our concept of what’s possible,” Kennedy was quoted as saying.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump and Kennedy campaigns for further comment.
