Democrats say Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is desperately trying to sustain a third-party presidential campaign.
Their latest sign was confirmation that Kennedy was meeting with Vice President Harris about her future role in his administration, a development that came just weeks after he discussed the same topic with former President Trump in Milwaukee for the Republican National Committee.
Kennedy’s targeting of both sides highlights the challenges facing independent candidates struggling to build and sustain a base with less than three months to go until Election Day.
“I’m not like most Democrats who see third-party challengers as a threat,” says Hassan Martini, a progressive campaigner. “I welcome new ideas into our political world. If a Republican has a good idea, I’ll support it. RFK doesn’t.”
“He brings a famous last name and a famous bank account,” he said. “That’s it. Goodbye.”
Publicly, Kennedy has made negative comments about both Harris and Trump, making his behind-the-scenes courtship even more puzzling. The countdown to November puts added pressure on Kennedy to choose a strategy for his unlikely campaign beyond just loud and noisy.
this week, The Washington PostKennedy may have been trying to run for a high-ranking post with Harris, as her approval rating as the Democratic candidate has remained flat and her support has continued to grow since President Biden withdrew his candidacy.
Kennedy appeared to confirm the reports, telling The Washington Post that he believed it was a “strategic mistake on their part” that Harris’ team refused to talk to him.
“I think they should explore every opportunity,” Kennedy told the paper. “I think it’s going to be a very close race.”
In an apparent attempt to correct course, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, later issued a statement distancing herself from the Harris campaign.
“I can confirm: We are not in negotiations with Ms. Harris. Personally speaking, they are desperate. Literally,” Shanahan wrote on social platform X.
The Hill has reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment.
“RFK Jr. may be desperate, but he’s desperate to avoid voters realizing that his purpose in running is to undermine Trump,” said Josh Schwerin, a former Democratic campaigner and founder of the political consulting firm Saratoga Strategies.
Schwerin, like other Democrats, viewed the failed invitation as a cynical ploy to bolster his own political career, regardless of shared ideology or goals.
“He and his campaign have made it clear that they want Trump to win, and no amount of posturing about reaching out to both sides will change that,” he said.
Democrats seized on the failed meeting, pointing out that Kennedy has expressed policies and personal beliefs that are well outside the party’s ideals and has demonstrated past behavior that some see as disqualifying. Liberals in particular have argued that Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism and friendship with Republican donors are key differences between him and Harris as a White House candidate.
Meanwhile, some Democrats suggested Trump might be more willing to negotiate with him than Harris.
“While Donald Trump is happy to embrace Kennedy Jr.’s anti-abortion and conspiracy theory nonsense, Vice President Harris is not going to give him any time of day,” said Britt Jakovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn, who has worked on the anti-Kennedy campaign as part of a coalition of outside groups focused on third-party challengers.
“RFK Jr.’s campaign is collapsing and his job search is tinged with desperation,” Jakovich said.
Kennedy has already met with Trump, and Trump fans are a little more open to having him in their tent. The environmental lawyer said in a mid-July meeting that he was trying to create more “unity” between the two opposing camps, but critics say he hasn’t helped bridge the stark ideological divide.
If anything, the opposite is true: Kennedy is frustrating people on both sides of the aisle who are skeptical about the outcome they want from this fall’s presidential election.
“This is just a lesson in failed power grabs for a man who has done serious damage to his family’s reputation and legacy,” said Amecia Cross, a Democratic strategist and commentator.
Kennedy has been focused on gathering ballot signatures in states, something he has had some success with in the past using Shanahan’s Silicon Valley money, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to get most of them on the ballot in November; many secretaries of state still have to certify petitions in support of him.
It’s also becoming unclear whether Kennedy wants to get that far: His goal of meeting with Harris and Trump suggests he is already harboring hopes of joining whichever candidate wins the White House race and mapping out political alternatives if he can’t compete.
Cross dismissed Kennedy as “never a serious candidate,” but argued the race has gotten worse in recent days, with the summer news storm dramatically shaking up the electoral landscape.
“As the months pass with the assassination attempt on President Trump, Biden dropping out of the race and Harris’ influence, RFK is the last thing on anyone’s mind,” she said.
“RFK knows he can’t win or be an obstructionist at this point, so he’s appealing to the Harris and Trump campaigns in a desperate bid for a spot in the next administration,” she added. “This is the final effort of a failed political candidate who should never have been in this election in the first place.”
Matt Corridoni, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee who is focusing on Kennedy, echoed similar sentiments.
“Despite having millions of dollars in backing from some of Donald Trump’s biggest donors, RFK Jr.’s position as an obstructionist candidate has completely crumbled,” Corridoni said. “Every action he takes now is done out of desperation.”
While Kennedy’s private meet-and-greet efforts have gone public, he’s keeping up in other ways befitting a Hollywood-style candidate. In the coming days, he’ll host a self-described “star-studded sunset cruise” in Marina del Rey, California, a private dinner in Dallas, and a rally in Omaha, Nebraska, according to a public schedule on his campaign website. “Imagine yourself chatting with the stars you know and love while enjoying catered snacks and exquisite cocktails as the sun sinks below the Pacific horizon,” a preview of the cruise reads.
Kennedy has been plagued by bad press for some time, but more recently The New Yorker exposesKennedy once dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park and tried to hide it. His problems were compounded when a judge ruled that he couldn’t appear on the New York state ballot because he’s not technically a New York resident. Kennedy has said he will appeal, but the ruling threatens to complicate his efforts to get on the 50-state ballot.
As Democrats prepare for their convention in Chicago next week, they are watching with glee as things get worse for Kennedy.
“The Democratic Party is not going to help his endless desire for attention,” Corridoni said. “He’s built his own MAGA bed. He’s got to sleep in it.”
