I’ve long wondered what erstwhile Democrat Robert F Kennedy Jr. — now an independent — is after with his MAGA-friendly presidential campaign.
I’ve thought: “Does he simply want to help Donald Trump win? Does he want to seek retribution, alongside his antivax buddies, against liberals for daring to try to prevent mass death during the Covid pandemic?”
A new report from The Washington Post seems to have landed on a rather simple answer: power and ambition.
Apparently, Kennedy, through an intermediary, sought a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to see if she’d be willing to offer him a role in her potential administration in exchange for his endorsement.
The Harris campaign’s response? Essentially: “boy, bye.”
Per the Post:
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought a meeting last week with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to discuss the possibility of serving in her administration, perhaps as a Cabinet secretary, if he throws his support behind her campaign and she wins, according to Kennedy campaign officials. Harris and her advisers have not responded with an offer to meet or shown interest in the proposal, say people familiar with the conversations.
Kennedy said in response to the report that he had reached out to all the candidates, but never asked the Harris campaign for a Cabinet position.
As the Post noted, the cold shoulder Kennedy reportedly received from the Harris campaign was markedly different from the response he received from Trump’s campaign regarding a similar offer. Weeks earlier, Kennedy and Trump spoke directly about the idea of Kennedy endorsing Trump in exchange for a Cabinet position or advisory role in a potential Trump White House. Portions of one of their discussions were even posted online.
And though no agreement seems to have been reached, the fact the chats occurred at all highlights a pretty clear contrast. Team Trump seems thirsty for Kennedy’s endorsement, or for him to leave the race at least, and Team Harris doesn’t seem to care either way. Recent polling data show why that may be. As my colleague Zeeshan Aleem explained, Harris’ entry into the presidential race has attracted independent and third party voters who’d been considering Kennedy when President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee. On the other hand, Kennedy’s ongoing presence in the race only seems to hurt Trump. So even if they were to meet, Harris could reasonably ask Kennedy: “Why do I need your endorsement when your ‘supporters’ are already flocking to me?”
Trump seems acutely aware that Kennedy’s campaign, which has been imploding as of late, seems to be pulling from his support. That would explain his public attack on conspiratorial podcaster Joe Rogan after Rogan praised Kennedy’s campaign. I’d argue all of this puts Kennedy in a prime position to extract some kind of concession from Trump down the line. He clearly has something Trump wants, whether that’s a suspension of his campaign or a full-on endorsement. And Trump has shown shameless deference to people willing who aid his campaign in any way.