The relationship between former President Donald Trump and that scion of one of America’s most famous political families, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has not always been amicable. Kennedy was, for most of his adult life, a Democrat – but then, so was Donald Trump. RFK Jr., after a dust-up in which the Democratic Party Bernie-Sandersed him out of the primary elections, continued his presidential campaign as an independent while Donald Trump and running mate JD Vance sewed up the Republican nomination.
On Monday, hints of a conversation between former President Trump and Mr. Kennedy came to light that seem to indicate there may be some kind of a deal in the works between the two.
The independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr reportedly held recent talks with Donald Trump about endorsing his campaign for a second presidency and – if successful – taking a job in his administration.
The talks, first reported Monday by the Washington Post, come days after Kennedy publicly apologized for a video posted online that showed part of a private phone call between him and Trump. The clip included Trump sharing his thoughts about childhood vaccines and being in broad agreement with Kennedy, a noted vaccine sceptic. In the video, Trump seemingly invited Kennedy to endorse his campaign.
But the Post reported that it was Kennedy – a Democratic candidate who became independent in October last year – who later sought a post overseeing health and medical issues under any new Trump administration in exchange for his support.
Curioser and curiouser – especially in light of some other recent reporting on interactions between the two.
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Here’s where it gets interesting:
At a meeting in Milwaukee early last week, the outlet said, discussions between the two included possible jobs that Kennedy could be given at the cabinet level – or posts that do not require Senate confirmation. The talks also explored the possibility of Kennedy dropping out and endorsing the former president.
I’m extremely skeptical about the idea that RFK Jr. might not only drop out of the presidential race but hop on board the Trump Express. The first part, granted, isn’t all that unlikely, as Kennedy isn’t really picking up much traction in the polls and was denied a spot in the first presidential debate.
But joining the Trump campaign team? Taking a job in a second Trump administration? That seems unlikely.
Still – Kennedy does have his pet issues, mostly related to vaccines and health care. If the Trump campaign promised him some key role, perhaps in the CDC, maybe with the National Institutes of Health, might RFK Jr. be tempted to sign on in hopes of seeing some of his policy goals realized?
In five-way presidential polling matchups, Kennedy has been hovering around 5 to 15 percent. He’s the only third-party candidate who was able to break into the double digits in this election cycle. He has a small but dedicated following. Were he to cancel his campaign and endorse the Trump/Vance ticket, it would shake up the race some.
It’s generally regarded that Kennedy’s candidacy would take more votes from the Democrat ticket than the Republican one, and that estimate may be even more prescient now, with a new presumed Democrat presidential candidate who is, candidly, a nut. But were he to overtly switch teams, he may well drag a larger number of moderate Democrats along with him, even a larger proportion than he might have siphoned off otherwise. If that happened, Kamala Harris may as well stay home between now and November 5th.
It’s unlikely, of course. It’s unlikely that the Trump campaign would make such an offer, and it’s unlikely that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would take it.
It would be interesting, though, if this happened – wouldn’t it?
