Whitmer says RFK Jr. gives her ‘some concern,’ needs to be ‘taken seriously’

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other third-party candidates give her “some concern.”

Whitmer was pressed on CNN’s “State of the Union” about recent polls that showed Kennedy with 9 percent support in her state of Michigan. She emphasized Sunday that the election was going to be a “close” race, but that President Biden has a list of accomplishments that he can tout to voters in the state.

She said Biden “is the first president in a long time that has been able to deliver on infrastructure and has a real manufacturing vision … that is playing out every day in good paying jobs.”

“Certainly Kennedy, or any third-party candidate, gives me some concern and is to be taken seriously, and that’s why we’re showing up and we’re working hard in all 83 counties to earn the votes of the people, and a lot of good traditional Republicans who don’t feel at home with the convicted felon at the top of the ballot who know that Kennedy has got lots of far-out, kind of wild ideas about science and and the future and doesn’t even have the support of his own family,” Whitmer said.

“All that being said, we can’t make any assumptions. We’ve got to earn every single vote, and that’s what we’re doing,” she added.

Kennedy qualified for the Michigan ballot in April. According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling average of Michigan, Kennedy has about 7.7 percent support in the state, while Biden and former President Trump are about tied.