At a campaign event in New York on Wednesday, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposed a “no-spoiler” pledge to President Joe Biden amidst his ongoing feud with former President Donald Trump.
Under Kennedy’s proposal, both he and Biden would jointly fund a 50-state poll of over 30,000 people in mid-October. The results would determine which candidate performs weakest against Trump in a two-man race, with the agreement that the weaker candidate would drop out of the presidential race.
Kennedy presented results from a poll commissioned by his campaign, showing scenarios where he could win against both Biden and Trump separately. He accused Biden of being the “spoiler” in the race, rather than himself.
However, Democrats swiftly rejected Kennedy’s argument. Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corridoni dismissed Kennedy as a spoiler candidate, stating that his campaign’s presentation only reinforced this perception.
Originally running as a Democrat in line with the Kennedy dynasty, RFK switched parties to run as an Independent. In March, he announced Nicole Shanahan, a California-based attorney and entrepreneur, as his running mate.
Recent polling suggests RFK is attracting voters aged 18 to 34 and 35 to 49 away from Trump. A national poll released on April 18 showed Biden narrowly leading Trump by one point. However, when RFK was included in the test ballot, Biden’s lead over Trump increased to five points.
Trump criticized RFK in a series of posts on his Truth Social account, referring to him as a Democrat “plant.”
RFK’s campaign aims to secure ballot access in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the general election on Nov. 5. However, achieving this without support from the Democratic or Republican parties poses challenges.
The campaign claims to have collected enough signatures for ballot access in several states, including New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, and Iowa. Additionally, the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is officially on the ballot in Utah and Michigan.
During Wednesday’s event, RFK stated that the campaign has already obtained enough signatures for ballot access in New York and continues to collect more.
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