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President Biden’s team is so worried about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s potential impact on the election that it’s built an entire operation dedicated to attacking Kennedy.
- Former President Trump’s campaign also figures that Kennedy is more likely to pick off votes from Biden than Trump — so it’s content to watch and wait.
Why it matters: Those contrasting approaches are coming into focus as RFK Jr. — who’s polling better than any independent candidate since Ross Perot in 1992 — faces increasing scrutiny.
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- This time, Kennedy threatens the Biden campaign’s premise that the election is a choice between Biden’s stability and Trump’s chaos and divisiveness.
- So Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee have dedicated a team of staffers and consultants to try to diminish Kennedy.
businessman Tim Mellon — with the former president. Mellon has given $20 million to Kennedy’s super PAC and $15 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. this election cycle.
- Kennedy is officially on the ballot in just one state now — Utah. His campaign claims it has enough signatures in New Hampshire, Nevada and Hawaii to get on those states’ ballots.
- American Values 2024 says it has collected enough signatures to get him on ballots in other key states, including Michigan, Arizona and Georgia.
Driving the news: Kennedy aims to announce his running mate on Tuesday.
- His team has floated NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers and former wrestler/Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura as possibilities, but recent speculation has focused on Nicole Shanahan, a tech financier and major donor to his PAC.