Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday blamed Democrats for the ballot access lawsuits by his independent presidential campaign faces from outside a courthouse in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he claimed a judge refused to allow him or a campaign official to testify because they were late to the courtroom.
Kennedy attributed blame for the legal challenges to his candidacy solely to Democrats, specifying Republicans have not engaged in such tactics, on the same day his vice presidential running mate suggested Kennedy could soon end the campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump.
“I’m supposed to be in a meeting with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago today, talking about criminal justice reform, but I had to come here because the Democratic Party is suing me in Pennsylvania,” said Kennedy in a video posted to the social media platform X on Tuesday.
A complaint was filed against Kennedy in Pennsylvania last week by two individuals, including an apparent former Democratic delegate for the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, which accused the independent presidential candidate of misleading voters by using a New York address on his ballot petitions despite actually living in California.
The Kennedy campaign’s vice presidential candidate, Nicole Shanahan, is also from California, and the U.S. Constitution would require the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket to surrender the Electoral College votes from that state should they manage to win.
In his video, Kennedy stated that he has three residences in separate states that he could have listed, but that he “always considered” himself a New Yorker, which he said is where his law office operates and where he files his taxes.
Kennedy stated, “They’re suing me all over the country to try to keep me off the ballot,” and reported his cases are largely assigned to “highly politicized judges” who are “very sympathetic” to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
The former Democrat acknowledged he may lose ballot access lawsuits, but stated he was certain most would be decided in his favor on appeal, but pointed toward the financial impact of the Democrat-driven legal actions.
“It’s costing us millions of dollars,” said Kennedy. “Of course that’s what the Democratic Party wants.”
My father and my uncle were members of a Democratic Party that was at the forefront of making sure that every American could vote for the candidate they wanted to.
Today’s Democratic Party is doing the opposite. pic.twitter.com/6K3XZ7bXsj
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 21, 2024
Kennedy’s remarks came on the same day Shanahan confirmed he is considering whether to drop his presidential bid and endorse the Trump-Vance ticket to prevent Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz from winning the White House in November.
“We don’t want to be a spoiler. We wanted to win, we wanted a fair shot. The DNC made that impossible for us,” Shanahan told the Impact Theory podcast on Tuesday. “They have banned us, shadow banned us, kept us off stages, manipulated polls, used lawfare against us, sued us in every possible state.”
Shanahan told interviewer Tom Bilyeu, “There’s two options that we’re looking at.”
The first option, according to Shanahan, involves remaining in the contest in a bid to secure 5 percent of the national popular vote before creating a new political party, while the campaign’s second option involves a direct effort to work with the Trump campaign.
“I think we are taking a very serious look at making sure the people that have corrupted our fair and free democracy do not end up in office in November,” said Shanahan at one point, which she said was an acknowledgement of “how bad things are.”
Shanahan said in another portion of the interview, “It’s not because of the Republican Party taking us out, it is exclusively because of the Democrat Party taking us out, and I am so disappointed I ever helped them,” before referencing her past support for Democrats in Georgia.
After admitting she would rather see the country entrusted to Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), Shanahan seemed to suggest that Kennedy wanted access to a role in a future Trump administration.
“One, do we trust Trump?” Shanahan questioned, “Is he somebody that’s going to continue to invite people like Bobby and I into the conversation?”
The Kennedy campaign on Wednesday additionally announced a speech in Arizona, with the campaign declaring Kennedy “will address the nation” in remarks focused on “the present historical moment and his path forward.” Kennedy’s campaign plans to broadcast his speech live to X and other social media platforms.
Republicans have previously speculated Kennedy’s candidacy, initially fueled by his opposition of COVID-19 policies and skepticism of vaccines, could hurt President Joe Biden, the president’s decision to step down may have changed the analysis, as polling data from Pennsylvania and Arizona suggests the independent candidate could be helping Harris shore up numbers against Trump.
The RealClearPolling average of surveys in Pennsylvania shows Trump leading the vice president by just 0.2 percent in a head-to-head race, but the aggregated data of surveys including Kennedy and other independent or third-party candidates shows Harris leading the former president by 2 percent.
In Arizona, the RealClearPolling average similarly shows Trump with a 0.2 percent lead in a head-to-head race against Harris, but with the inclusion of Kennedy and other independent or third party candidates, RealClearPolling finds Harris has a 0.6 percent lead.
On Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he might consider Kennedy for an administration position should he receive an endorsement.
“I like him a lot. I respect him a lot,” said Trump. “I probably would, if something like that would happen.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
