Main Edition
US
FR
August 24, 2024 - 8:00am
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s presidential campaign has sputtered to a premature end, with the scion of America’s most famous political dynasty throwing his support behind fellow elite ‘outsider’ Donald Trump. It’s a move that smacks of political opportunism, yet it may prove consequential in what promises to be another nail-biting election.
Kennedy’s departure from the race was as messy and contradictory as his campaign. He framed his decision as a noble sacrifice to avoid playing spoiler, while simultaneously painting himself as a victim of a vast Democratic conspiracy. ‘In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory in the face of this relentless systematic censorship and media control,’ Kennedy declared, sounding for all the world like a man who at least realized that tilting at windmills is exhausting work.
The irony, of course, is that Kennedy’s quixotic bid was fueled by the very media ecosystem he now decries. His campaign found fertile ground in the swampy corners of the internet where vaccine skeptics and political outsiders thrive. Now he’s asking his supporters to follow him into Trump’s welcoming arms, a pivot that would be shocking if it weren’t so predictable.
But will Kennedy’s ragtag band of followers actually heed his call? That’s the million-dollar question keeping political operatives up at night. Recent polling from the Pew Research Center paints a picture of a supporter base that’s about as cohesive as a sandcastle at high tide. Kennedy’s base skews young, is politically disengaged, and is deeply dissatisfied with both major parties. In other words, they’re the kind of voters who might just as easily stay home on election day as pull the lever for Trump.
The Trump campaign is nonetheless excited at the prospect of inheriting Kennedy’s supporters, with the GOP candidate’s campaign manager suggesting their votes could make a difference in the ‘purple’ states of the Rust Belt. They’re banking on the idea that anyone drawn to Kennedy’s brand of outsider politics will naturally gravitate towards Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ rhetoric. It’s a neat theory, but one that conveniently ignores the yawning ideological chasm between Kennedy’s Left-leaning environmentalism and Trump’s enthusiasm for fossil fuels.
Leading Democrats, for their part, are putting on a brave face. They’re dismissing Kennedy’s endorsement as irrelevant, arguing that his support was always more mirage than oasis. It’s a comforting narrative, but one that ignores the very real discontent that fueled the independent’s campaign in the first place.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe