RFK Jr. holds 15 percent support in Democratic primary: poll

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a double-digit approval and favorability rating in the Democratic primary in a new poll, the latest sign that President Biden does not have the 2024 race entirely to himself.

In a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll shared with The Hill on Friday, Kennedy received 15 percent of support among a sample of the party’s primary voters, with 21 percent of respondents saying they have a positive view of him. 

Despite Kennedy’s relative ascent, the environmental lawyer, who launched a longshot bid for the nomination in April, still trails the sitting president by a significant amount. Biden dominates the small Democratic field, earring 62 percent of support. 

“RFK Jr. is well liked but holds only 15 per cent against Joe Biden who has strengthened his position as the likely nominee for the Democrats as we head towards an epic rematch,” said Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.

Kennedy has caught a wave of attention lately for expressing a series of conspiratorial and right-wing views on vaccines and politics to non-traditional audiences. His recent conversation with Twitter owner Elon Musk further elevated his profile, causing some Democrats to wonder if he could become a factor in the presidential election cycle and could cause headaches for Biden’s campaign. 

He has also remained relatively consistent in polls, earring double-digit support in several surveys and further fueling the notion that at least some Democrats don’t want Biden at the top of the ticket.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll was conducted between June 14 and June 15 with 2,090 respondents surveyed. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll.

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.