Democratic strategist James Carville said independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy may hurt former President Trump more than President Biden in their likely 2024 rematch.
“I actually think Bobby Kennedy might hurt Trump more,” Carville said Thursday on “The Beat with Ari Melber” on MSNBC in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Trump and his allies have welcomed Kennedy’s campaign, suggesting he is likely to pull votes from Biden in a general election.
“Kennedy is a Radical Left Democrat, and always will be!!! It’s great for MAGA, but the Communists will make it very hard for him to get on the Ballot,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, shortly after Kennedy announced entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his running mate Tuesday.
Carville said other third-party candidates could be more problematic for Biden.
“I think there’s a certain percent of people in our country that are just like, ‘Just F the whole thing,’ and Biden is not gonna get any of the ‘F it all’ vote, OK?” he said. “Now what worries me is Cornel West and Jill Stein, because they’re going to get some of the ‘F it all’ vote, too.”
West is an independent candidate who launched the Justice for All Party in January. Stein is once again running under the Green Party banner.
Poll suggest RFK Jr. will hurt Biden more than Trump in a general election, but only by a slim margin.
Former GOP presidential primary candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said Wednesday that he thinks Kennedy’s bid for the White House “could be a good thing” for Trump.
“It should take votes away from the Democrats. And this should be a good development, not only for President Trump, but I believe it for this country,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity.