Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week that members of former President Donald Trump's inner circle asked him to run as Trump's vice president.
"President Trump calls me an ultra-left radical. I'm soooo liberal that his emissaries asked me to be his VP. I respectfully declined the offer," Kennedy Jr. wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter on Monday. "I am against President Trump, and President Biden can't win. Judging by his new website, it looks like President Trump knows who actually can beat him."
Kennedy Jr. is currently running as an independent candidate in the 2024 election after initially planning to run as a Democrat. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, are slated for a 2020 rematch.
Kennedy is the son of former New York Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.
Newsweek reached out to a spokesperson for Trump via email for comment.
The context:
Earlier this month, Trump shared a video on Truth Social speaking about Kennedy Jr.
"RFK Jr., as you know, is the most radical left candidate in the race," Trump says in the video. "But he's got some nice things about him, I happen to like him. Unfortunately, he is about the green new scam ... [he wants to] waste money doing something that nobody wants and everybody knows doesn't work."
Trump continued, "Kennedy is a radical left Democrat and always will be ... It's great for MAGA, I hope he continues to run ... But expect him to be indicted any day now, probably for environmental fraud."
What we know:
Responding to Trump's remarks earlier this month, Kennedy Jr.'s campaign Press Secretary Stefanie Spear told Newsweek via email that "If 'radical' means protecting our constitutional rights, especially freedom of speech, ending the war machine, growing small businesses, rebuilding the middle class, and reducing the national debt, then we are proudly 'radical' as Trump described."
Newsweek has reached out to Kennedy Jr.'s campaign for comment.
Views:
Shortly after Trump's criticism of Kennedy Jr. earlier this month, former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski responded on X saying "He's doing this because his internal polling shows RFK Jr is pulling votes from him. Especially since they now have essentially the same position on abortion and J6, and RFK Jr is more in synch with MAGA on Covid and vaccines than Trump is."
Kennedy Jr. also previously said that he believes Biden is worse of a threat to Democracy in the U.S. than Trump.
"I can make the argument that President Biden is much worse," Kennedy Jr. said while appearing on CNN's OutFront. "And the reason for that is President Biden is the first candidate in history, the first president in history that has used the federal agencies to censor political speech or censor his opponent."
What's next:
Kennedy Jr. recently named Nicole Shanahan as his running mate as he continues to work to get his name on the ballot in all 50 states ahead of the November election.
Trump has yet to name a vice presidential pick and a number of names have been speculated for the position.
Update, 4/15/24, 12:11 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
Update, 4/15/24, 12:52 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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