Democrats say Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is showing desperation as he tries to keep his third-party presidential campaign afloat.
The latest indication for them was confirmation that Kennedy tried to meet with Vice President Harris about a future role in her possible administration, a development that came weeks after he spoke with former President Trump about the same topic in Milwaukee during the Republican National Committee.
Kennedy’s angling on both sides points to the problems the independent candidate faces as he struggles to build a base and lasting enthusiasm less than three months out from Election Day.
“I am not like most Democrats that view third-party challengers as a threat,” said Hassan Martini, a progressive campaign operative. “I welcome new ideas into our political stratosphere. If a Republican has a good idea, I will support it, but RFK does not do that.”
“He brings his famous last name and bank account,” he said. “He is done. Good riddance.”
Outwardly, Kennedy has spoken negatively about both Harris and Trump, which makes his behind-the-scenes courtship more puzzling. The countdown to November puts additional pressure on Kennedy to choose a strategy that will create more than just loud noise and attention around his long-shot campaign.
This week, The Washington Post reported that Kennedy attempted to seek out a potentially high-ranking government position with Harris, the Democratic nominee, as his polling flatlines and as the pulse around Harris continues to rise after President Biden suspended his bid.
Kennedy appeared to confirm the reporting, telling the Post he thinks “it is a strategic mistake for them,” referring to Harris’s team rejecting a discussion with him.
“I think they ought to be looking at every opportunity,” Kennedy also told the paper. “I think it is going to be a very close race.”
In an apparent attempt to course-correct, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, later released a statement distancing them from the Harris campaign.
“Confirming: We are NOT in talks with Harris. Speaking personally, they are a lost cause. Literally,” Shanahan wrote on the social platform X.
The Hill has reached out to Harris’s campaign for comment.
“RFK Jr. might be desperate, but it’s a desperation to avoid voters realizing that the purpose of his candidacy is to be a spoiler for Trump,” said Josh Schwerin, a Democratic campaign veteran and founder of Saratoga Strategies, a political consulting firm.
Schwerin, like other Democrats, saw the failed wooing as a cynical ploy to bolster his political career, irrespective of any shared ideology or common goals.
“He and his campaign have made it clear they want Trump to win, and no amount of posturing about outreach to both sides will change that,” he said.
Democrats seized on the meeting-that-wasn’t by pointing out Kennedy has shared policy ideas and personal beliefs that are far outside what their party stands for and has exhibited past conduct that some view as disqualifying. Liberals in particular traced back Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism and comfort with GOP donors as defining differences between his White House candidacy and Harris’s.
Some Democrats suggested Trump, on the other hand, is more willing to engage with him than Harris.
“While Donald Trump is entertaining RFK Jr.’s anti-abortion, conspiracy-theory nonsense, Vice President Harris won’t give him the time of day,” said Britt Jacovich, a spokesperson for MoveOn who has worked on anti-Kennedy efforts as part of a coalition of outside groups focused on third-party challengers.
“RFK Jr.’s campaign is disintegrating and his job search reeks of desperation,” Jacovich said.
Kennedy already met with Trump, whose fans have been marginally more willing to consider welcoming Kennedy in their tent. The environmental lawyer said during the mid-July talk that he aimed to create more “unity” between the warring parties, but critics note he hasn’t helped bridge any glaring ideological divisions.
If anything, it has been the opposite. Kennedy has frustrated people on both sides of the aisle who view him skeptically as he relates to their desired outcome in the fall.
“This is nothing more than a lesson in a failed power grab for a man who has done severe damage to his family’s name and legacy,” said Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist and commentator.
Kennedy’s been focused on collecting state ballot signatures, and while he had some earlier traction using Shanahan’s Silicon Valley money, it’s unclear whether he will make most ballots in November. Many secretaries of state still have to certify his petitions of support.
It’s also becoming less certain whether Kennedy even wants to get to that point. His goal of meeting with Harris and Trump signals he’s already sketching out political alternatives if he isn’t able to compete, with hopes of joining whoever wins the race for the White House.
Cross dismissed Kennedy as “never a serious contender” but argues his campaign has been even worse recently as the news cyclone of the summer has drastically shaken up the state of play.
“As the months have waged on post-the Trump assassination attempt, Biden dropping out of the race and Harris’s galvanizing power, RFK isn’t on anyone’s mind,” she said.
“RFK knows he can’t win or serve as a spoiler at this point, so he’s desperately seeking a spot in any upcoming administration with appeals to Harris and Trump campaigns,” she added. “It’s a last-ditch effort for a failed political candidate that should’ve sat this out in the first place.”
Matt Corridoni, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee who is focused on Kennedy, echoed that sentiment.
“Despite being propped up with millions of dollars from Donald Trump’s largest donor, RFK Jr.’s spoiler candidacy has sunk like a rock,” Corridoni said. “Any move he makes now is done out of desperation.”
While Kennedy’s private meeting attempt has now spilled into public view, he has also been trying to keep up in other ways that ring true for a Hollywood-style candidate. He’s hosting a self-described “star studded sunset cruise” in Marina Del Rey, Calif., a private dinner in Dallas and a rally in Omaha, Neb., in the coming days, according to his campaign website’s public schedule. “Picture yourself indulging in catered bites and exquisite cocktails while conversing with stars you know and love as the sun dips below the Pacific horizon,” the cruise teaser reads.
Kennedy has also been contending with bad press for some time, most recently when The New Yorker exposed that he once chucked a dead bear cub into Central Park and tried to cover it up. His problems only escalated when a judge ruled he is not allowed to appear on the New York ballot because he is not technically a resident of the state. The ruling, which Kennedy says he is appealing, threatens to complicate his 50-state ballot endeavor.
Preparing for their convention in Chicago next week, Democrats are happily watching things devolve for Kennedy.
“Democrats are not interested in helping him in his never-ending desire to seek attention,” said Corridoni. “He’s made his MAGA bed, he can lay in it.”