Steve Bannon Eyes Democrat for Trump's Vice President

Steve Bannon believes Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be "an excellent choice" as Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate.

Kennedy, the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy, formally announced his candidacy last Wednesday and will attempt to pose a challenge to incumbent President Joe Biden—who on Tuesday is expected to formally announce his reelection campaign.

An NBC News poll published Sunday shows that 70 percent of Americans, including 51 percent of Democrats, do not want Biden to run for a second term. The same poll shows that 60 percent of Americans, including a third of Republicans, don't want current frontrunner Trump to run for president again in 2024.

"Someone asked about Robert F. Kennedy and the great speech at Hillsdale (a college in Michigan where Kennedy spoke last month during a seminar attacking 'Big Pharma') and what did I think about his prospects," Bannon said during his War Room podcast.

His first choice for Trump's running mate is former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who is still fighting her November 2022 election loss in Arizona, claiming voter fraud. Lake has yet to concede to Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs. There is speculation that Lake could next run for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona.

"If she's not available to be Trump's VP, Bobby Kennedy would be an excellent choice for Trump to consider," Bannon said, adding that his suggestion purportedly received a standing ovation during a public appearance.

Newsweek reached out to Bannon and War Room via email for comment.

Kennedy's presidential platform centers on a limited surveillance and anti-censorship stance that includes better environmental protections, ending all foreign wars and United States involvement in them, and the "high priority" of freedom of speech, according to his campaign website.

"The problem is a system that no longer serves the people and a people who are so divided and so fearful that they are easily ruled," Kennedy said in his campaign announcement video. "It's time to unlearn the reflexes of fear and blame and find ways to unify ourselves and turn our country around."

At the opening event in Boston commemorating his long-shot campaign launch, Kennedy spoke for almost two hours about his father's (the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy) 1968 campaign, his criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry, and his career as an environmental lawyer.

Kennedy's ire for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who gained national fame due to his continuous presence in the Trump and Biden administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly attracted over 1,000 attendees at Hillsdale College last month in what was one of the largest seminars in school history, the Hillsdale Collegian reported.

Kennedy appeared as a guest speaker at the Defeat the Mandates protest last January in Washington, D.C. The demonstration included various anti-vaccine protest groups that had ties with conspiracy theorist organizations like QAnon.

Last month, Kennedy—alongside the Children's Health Defense—took legal action against Biden and several other federal officials for allegedly encouraging platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google to censor "constitutionally protected speech."

"Robert Kennedy's anti-vax beliefs have long been associated with far-right figures, therefore maybe negating the thought of Steve Bannon's suggestion that Kennedy Jr. becomes a GOP running mate in 2024," Jay Oliver, a radio news host on LI News Radio, told Newsweek via email. "Let's not forget a now-deleted Instagram photo obtained by CBS showing Kennedy backstage at a 2021 ReAwaken event with former President Donald Trump's ally Roger Stone, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and anti-vaccine profiteer Charlene Bollinger.

Oliver added: "He's also appeared on Fox News spewing his conspiracy theories. RFK Jr. apparently has the notion to disassociate, and try and unite, rather than divide."

Newsweek reached out to Kennedy's campaign via email for comment.

Patricia Crouse, a political science practitioner in residence at the University of New Haven, told Newsweek that the 2024 election scene is "chaotic."

It is highlighted by an unclear number of Republican candidates. Trump's possible biggest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has not yet declared his candidacy, has bared the brunt of numerous Trump attacks in recent weeks.

Bannon "is just trying to stir the pot" by connecting Kennedy Jr. with Trump on a major ticket, she said.

"It makes for interesting news, but [Kennedy Jr.] has zero chance of winning the nomination. Some Democrats may appreciate his environmental views, but the majority of his other political positions are too extreme for Democrats or even independents," Crouse said.

"Although he has the Kennedy name, I don't think this will help him—especially considering many in his family have openly opposed his views, specifically his anti-vaccination views. He is not a JFK or RFK or even an Edward Kennedy (their brother, the late Massachusetts senator). Voters will be able to make that distinction once he starts campaigning. The Kennedy Legacy will not help him."

Lisa Parshall, a political science professor at Daemen University, told Newsweek via email that the dynamics of the 2024 nominating elections will likely be "volatile and unpredictable" in the pre-primary and early primary phase, especially if either or both sides field a large number of contenders.

Kennedy Jr. has name recognition and translated to some polling support, she added, but it is essentially nothing compared to the support for Biden. Bannon's comments are likely a way to create distraction and/or to weaken the current president, Parshall added.

"Trump's supporters are trying to give oxygen to RFK Jr.'s candidacy as a way of pestering Biden by encouraging any potential challengers," she said. "I read Bannon's suggestion as in that same vein. There was a flirtation between RFK Jr. and the Trump administration around vaccinations and conspiracy theory, and Bannon is apparently claiming credit for encouraging his run."

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll conducted Saturday through Tuesday found that 14 percent of Biden's 2020 supporters said they would vote for Kennedy.

Another 67 percent said they would stick with Biden, while 13 percent remained undecided and 5 percent backed another announced Democratic candidate, author Marianne Williamson.

Update 04/23/23, 3:11 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Lisa Parshall.