Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited the country’s changing political dynamics after a 24-year-old video resurfaced by MSNBC in which the independent presidential candidate warned of the potential for the Green Party candidacy of Ralph Nader in 2000 to spoil the election for Democrats and former Vice President Al Gore.
According to Kennedy in the resurfaced interview from 2000, Nader’s “candidacy could draw enough votes in certain key states from Al Gore to give the entire election to George W. Bush.”
Kennedy pointed to his high favorability and polling in Arizona and other battleground states in a post to X, formerly Twitter, and cited his “highest net favorability of anyone in the race.”
“If I’m a ‘spoiler’ that’s fine,” wrote Kennedy. “I look forward to spoiling the race for both my competitors.”
A lot has changed since 2000. 49% of the country now considers itself Independent. I have the highest net favorability of anyone in the race. I’m at 24% on average in the battleground states. 26% in Arizona and Michigan. I’m number one nationwide among young voters.
I'm… https://t.co/msaIO0ahvG
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 8, 2024
Kennedy likely referred to a January poll of U.S. voters across the country that showed him with a 52 percent favorability rating. The same survey found former President Donald Trump is now viewed more favorably than his successor, with a 42 percent favorability rating compared to President Joe Biden’s 41 percent rating.
Another poll from last week showed 44 percent of voters hold a favorable view of Kennedy, compared to just 34 percent who hold an unfavorable opinion. The same pollsters found Trump had a higher percentage of Americans who reported a favorable view at 47 percent, but 53 percent reported holding an unfavorable opinion of the former president.
Biden scored the worst of the three candidates, with just the pollsters reporting just 41 percent of voters hold a favorable view of the incumbent, contrasted with 57 percent who have an unfavorable view of the president.
The poll Kennedy referred to showing him polling competitively in Arizona and Michigan is likely The New York Times survey of six battleground states published in November 2023. In all states but Arizona, the former president held a lead over both Biden and Kennedy.
While Kennedy placed third in that poll, it showed him leading with Americans in battleground states who are under the age of 45.
However, Trump remained the winner of that poll with an average of 35 percent of the vote in the battleground states compared to 33 percent who intend to vote for Biden. The former president tied with Biden at 33 percent in Arizona, and polled ahead of Biden in Michigan with 34 percent to the incumbent’s 31 percent.
Pollsters also found about 21 percent of those planning to vote for Kennedy previously voted for Biden, while 23 percent previously voted for Trump, and 49 percent made a different decision during the 2020 election.
Though Kennedy has yet to obtain ballot access in most of the country, speculation continues that the former Democrat may run on the Libertarian Party ticket. The Libertarians had ballot access in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., during the last election.
Kennedy most recently returned to Arizona for a campaign stop in December 2023 for a “Voter Rally” event in Phoenix. He previously visited Arizona to tour the southern border and released a documentary showing his findings.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Robert Kennedy Jr.” by Robert Kennedy Jr. Background Photo “Arizona Capitol” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
