As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. draws unusual bipartisan support in the race for the White House, there is a swell of sentiment that he should be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
“They would be an unstoppable duo,” Carla Gericke, both a Republican and Libertarian out of New Hampshire, told The Epoch Times, “I think it’s literally the ticket to reunite this fractured country of ours.”
Texas realtor Trisha Psencik Hope told The Epoch Times that while she is “Trump all the way” regardless of who his running mate will be, her top pick is RFK Jr., mostly because of the strong stance he took against COVID vaccine mandates.
Mrs. Psenick Hope, of Houston, said she wished Trump had taken a strong position against mandating the experimental jab and believes other GOPers feel the same way.
“I think bringing RFK to the ticket will soothe some of the lingering feelings about that and any future concerns about the government doing something like that again,” she said.
On July 6, Mr. Kennedy told NewsMax he wouldn’t consider being a running mate for either Trump or [Joe] Biden, but the prospect of a Kennedy/Trump ticket remains a hot topic on social media and also among high-profile politicians and could reveal how America will vote next November.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon suggested a Trump/Kennedy ticket back in April.
Early in July, on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who considered herself a vice-presidential prospect for Trump, was asked about what she thought of the idea.
While she didn’t directly answer the question, Mrs. Lake called Mr. Kennedy a good man who has done amazing and criticized people who have been referring to Mr. Kennedy as a “MAGA Democrat.”
“They just don’t want outsiders in the political machine, they don’t want outsiders coming into the swamp draining the swamp,” said Mrs. Lake, “They just want just the pre-approved, controllably, easily blackmailed and easily bribed people like Biden and the whole swamp system down there.”
Mr. Bannon said Mrs. Lake is his favored choice for Trump’s vice president, but said on his War Room show that if she wasn’t available “Kennedy would be an excellent choice.”
Others like Connecticut resident Libby DePiero, who has attended 41 Trump rallies since his first run for president in 2016, told The Epoch Times it would be a “dream come true” if Kennedy and Trump ran together.
“Between Kennedy’s fight for medical freedom against the COVID tyrannists [sic], and Trump’s proven record to make Americans first in their own country, it would be an even better presidency than Trump’s first time in office,” she said.
Several who like the idea have run polls on social media posing the question.
According to a Twitter poll of 1,629 users, 73.8 percent said they would support a Trump/Kennedy Ticket. The poll was based on 1,629 voters.
Participants like New York Times bestselling author and founder of ACT for America Brigitte Gabriel said a “Trump-Kennedy 2024 unity ticket would end Biden’s chances of re-election!”
Ms. Gericke said that while Kennedy does come from a political dynasty, she sees him as an outsider like Trump who knows that this world is such dire straits that the presidency is beyond party loyalty.
Mrs. Psenick Hope said while she and her husband were vacationing in Colorado, they broached the idea of a Kennedy/Trump ticket with locals in the left-leaning state.
“They said they would support Trump if Kennedy was on the ticket with him, she said, ”just like Republicans say they would support Kennedy if he was on the ticket with Trump.”
Mrs. Lake told CBN anchor Gary Lane that the swell of support for a Kennedy/Trump ticket shows “we are almost beyond Democrat versus Republican. We are now Communism and Globalism versus Americanism,” she said.
She said while like herself, Trump has political differences with Kennedy, she suspects “he also respects” RFK Jr.
This week on NewsNation, Kennedy said he was proud of Mr. Trump’s support for him, even though he doesn’t agree with him on “most of the issues.”
“Because I don’t want to alienate people, I want to bring people together. I’m proud that all these people like me and that I have independent supporters and Democratic supporters,” said Mr. Kennedy.
Earlier in the week Mr. Trump referred to Kennedy as a common sense guy on the “Howie Carr Show,” a radio talk show out of Boston.
Upon declaring his candidacy, Kennedy was immediately deemed a fringe candidate by political experts including presidential historian Allan Lichtman who told The Epoch Times that he has “no doubt Biden will be the Democratic nomination” in 2024.
Mr. Lichtman has accurately predicted the presidential winner since 1984.
Mr. Kennedy, however, seems to be fast shedding his predicted status as a fringe candidate and is instead emerging, at least according to some polls, as the front-runner, not just in the Democratic primaries, but in the general election.
Attempts to discredit Mr. Kennedy as a Democrat also suggest he poses a viable threat to Mr. Biden.
Last month, Ray Buckley, head of the New Hampshire Democratic Party penned a letter to Mr. Kennedy urging him to cancel his appearance at one of the largest libertarian events in the United States because the group supported anti-government values that did not align with the Democratic Party.
In May, a Washington Post columnist wrote an opinion piece entitled “His name is Kennedy. His campaign is pure Trump.”
