Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that he would end his primary challenge to President Biden and instead run for the White House as an independent.And with the announcement not only did a long-running GOP effort to elevate him in the service of embarrassing Biden go up in smoke, but Kennedy now appears to pose a potential spoiler threat by taking more votes from former president Donald Trump than Biden.What has resulted is a remarkable turnabout in how Republicans and the right talk about Kennedy.In recent days, the Republican National Committee has called Kennedy “just another radical, far-left Democrat” while detailing 23 reasons Republicans should oppose him. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Kennedy is a “typical elitist liberal, and voters won’t be fooled.” And Trump’s campaign made it even clearer that it fears a potential spoiler candidacy from Kennedy, who is much more popular with Republicans than Democrats.“Voters should not be deceived by anyone who pretends to have conservative values,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. He added that an “RFK candidacy is nothing more than a vanity project for a liberal Kennedy to cash in on his family’s name.”
This is a far cry from how the right — and even Trump himself — once talked about Kennedy. And to the extent MAGA voters are “fooled” into thinking he’s one of them, Republicans will have themselves to blame.While Republicans are now pitching Kennedy as an opportunist and a radical, Trump in late June vouched for Kennedy’s character and “common sense.”“He’s a very smart guy, and a good guy,” Trump said, adding: “He’s a very good man, and his heart is in the right place.”“He’s a common-sense guy, and so am I,” Trump said. “So, whether you’re conservative or liberal, common sense is common sense.”While they now suggest Kennedy should be persona non grata for conservative voters, key Trump-aligned strategists including Stephen K. Bannon and Roger Stone have pushed Kennedy as a possible running mate for Trump.