A campaign official for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said her “number one priority” is defeating President Joe Biden, and that Kennedy’s campaign could help throw the election to former President Donald Trump.
Rita Palma, a New York state director for the Kennedy campaign, told a group of Republican voters on April 5, “The only way that Trump can even [have a] remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot. If it’s Trump vs. Biden, Biden wins. Biden wins six days, seven days a week. With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen.” Palma’s comments were first reported by CNN.
“Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden. And my thoughts are that’s the number one priority in the country. I’m going to vote for Bobby,” Palma said in additional video footage reviewed by Rolling Stone. “However, if I wake up Nov. 6, and Trump wins, I’m not going to be overly upset. But if Biden wins, we’re all going to be terribly upset because he’s ruining America. And the people that control him are ruining our country.”
Palma presented a slideshow to voters that calls Kennedy the “best strategic opportunity to block Biden,” and argues that “if other blue states follow our example Biden CANNOT win.”
“Give [New York’s] 28 electoral votes to Bobby, rather than to Biden, thereby reducing Biden’s 270 — and we all know how that works right 270 [electoral votes] wins the election. If you don’t get to 270, if nobody gets to 70, then Congress picks the president. Right now we have a majority of Republicans in Congress… If it’s a Republican Congress, they’ll pick Trump. So we’re rid of Biden either way,” Palma added.
Palma told the gathered voters that she specifically told Kennedy’s campaign that she would only join them if she was “allowed to preach” that “we want to get rid of Biden in New York state.”
While Kennedy is running as an independent, his sharpest criticisms against his two leading opponents have been largely reserved for Biden. Last week, Kennedy repeatedly emphasized his belief that Biden is a greater “threat to democracy” than Trump. On Friday, Kennedy issued a non-clarification regarding his views on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. which parroted revisionist Republican talking points.
Given that Kennedy has largely built his candidate profile by cozying up to right-wing media and Republican donor circles, it’s no wonder the Democratic National Committee is treating Kennedy as a spoiler candidate operating against Biden.
“RFK Jr.’s campaign is saying the quiet part out loud: He is a spoiler for Donald Trump. RFK Jr. was recruited into this race by Trump allies, his candidacy is propped up by Trump’s largest donor, and now his own staff admits that their number one goal in this election is stopping Joe Biden,” DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni said in a statement responding to Palma’s comments.