Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week attempted to set up a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris in which he offered to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and endorse her in exchange for a position in her administration, possibly at a Cabinet level.
But Harris, 59, has not shown any interest in meeting Kennedy, let alone accepting his offer. The Washington Post reported. on wednesday.
“From the beginning of the campaign, we said that people need to talk to each other,” Kennedy told the outlet. “That’s the only way we’re going to bring our country together.”
The 70-year-old White House hopeful argued that it was a “strategic error” for Harris’ team not to consider his proposal.
“I think they should explore every opportunity,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a very close race.”
A spokesman for Kennedy’s campaign suggested the independent candidate could make a similar oversight to former President Donald Trump.
“Kennedy is open to meeting with leaders of both parties to discuss the possibility of a unity government,” a campaign official told The Post.
Trump, 78, reportedly met with Kennedy in Milwaukee last month on the first day of the Republican National Convention in an attempt to win his endorsement.
The Harris campaign did not respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
According to a Fox News poll released Wednesday, Kennedy’s campaign has been sagging since peaking at 15 percent approval last November.
According to the media’s latest poll, Kennedy’s approval rating is just 6%.
The poll showed independents were pulling more support from Trump than from Harris, with 9% of voters who backed Trump in a binary choice also saying they would support Kennedy, while 7% of Harris supporters also backed Kennedy.
An Albany judge ruled Monday that RFK Jr. will not appear on New York state’s November ballot because he does not actually live at the Westchester County address he listed as his residence on his election filing.
The ruling, which came in response to a lawsuit brought by a super PAC backing President Biden, scuppered Kennedy’s efforts to appear on the ballot in all 50 states and could have implications in other states where he listed his address as his home.
Kennedy told The Washington Post that he hasn’t had any contact with Democrats outside of lawsuits since he began his campaign.
“My only contact with the Democratic National Committee is that they are suing me through an intermediary,” he said.
