Despite GOP Enthusiasm After RFK's Endorsement, Not All Kennedy Supporters Are Ready To Go MAGA
Article Written by Jett James Pruitt
Yesterday added yet another dimension to the increasingly wild and unpredictable 2024 Presidential Election cycle.
Speaking at a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced he was suspending his campaign and throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.
Detailing his rationale for this bold move, Kennedy explained that while he and Trump disagreed on many issues, they nonetheless both shared a commitment to protect essential values such as preserving freedom of speech, ending excessive American entanglement in foreign affairs, and addressing the chronic disease epidemic that plagues the United States.
As such, RFK Jr. emphatically stated that he did not want to act as a “spoiler” against Trump in key battleground states in which he had no viable path to victory, and thereby hand the election to Vice President Kamala Harris.
A longtime environmental and public health activist, RFK Jr. has attracted immense criticism from the medical community for questioning the safety of vaccines and promoting claims of wrongdoing that involve prominent government officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci.
He initially began his 2024 bid for the White House as a Democrat, challenging President Joe Biden for the party nomination. This came as no surprise considering he is the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy — two of the most iconic Democratic politicians in American history.
However, after RFK Jr. struggled to gain traction in the primaries, Kennedy ultimately left the party on October 9, 2023 to run as an independent candidate. He went on to allege the DNC deliberately undermined his campaign by imposing arbitrary rules, launching lawsuits to keep him off state ballots, and depriving him of mainstream media attention.
In his August 23rd address, Kennedy attacked the Democratic Party for allegedly subverting the will of the people, asserting “In an honest system, I believe that I would have won the election in a system that my father and my uncles thrived in. A system with open debates, fair primaries, regularly scheduled debates, and a truly independent media untainted by government propaganda and censorship…In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling [democracy].”
Elaborating on his controversial claim, Kennedy stated “Lacking confidence in its candidate, the DNC waged continual legal warfare against both President Trump and myself. Each time that our volunteers turned in those towering boxes of signatures needed to get on the ballot, the DNC dragged us into court in state after state in an attempt to erase their work."
RFK Jr. continued:
"It deployed DNC-aligned judges to throw me and other [third-party] candidates off the ballot and to throw President Trump in jail. It ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Biden."
"Then when a predictably bungled debate performance precipitated the palace coup against President Biden, the same shadowy DNC operatives appointed his successor [i.e., Kamala Harris] also without an election.”
Considering how American politics is largely defined by an attritional struggle between the two major parties, the reaction to this development was unsurprisingly based on party lines.
The vast majority of Democrats and left-wing commentators derided the decision, with many claiming Kennedy is a ‘plant’ meant to steal support from Harris. Perhaps the harshest reaction came from Karen Tumulty, a columnist for The Washington Post:
“Were it not for the fact that he was blessed at birth with a revered name, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might never have amounted to anything but a crackpot on the fringe. Again and again, to the dismay of his extended family, RFK Jr. has sullied the Kennedy name and the dimming aura of Camelot by spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, most dangerously ones that undermine public confidence in vaccines.”
She concluded:
“His announcement on Friday that he would ‘throw my support’ to Donald Trump in battleground states represents a betrayal of the highest order.”
Meanwhile, Trump and most of the Republican Party warmly accepted RFK Jr.’s endorsement.
On the same day of his announcement, Trump invited Kennedy to briefly address his supporters at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, where he got a roar of approval and was welcomed with chants of “Bobby! Bobby!”
Among other things, RFK Jr. asserted that Trump will “make America healthy again” and will be a President “who is going to protect us against totalitarianism.” In response, Trump promised to “establish a panel of top experts” including his former rival and release “all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.”
At this time, most political pundits expect Kennedy’s decision to put a feather on the scales in favor of Trump.
As pointed out by Fox News personality Dana Perino, even a three to four percentage boost to Trump in November can help him win state races that are usually determined by razor-thin margins.
However, what American Conservatives must understand is that the true impact of RFK Jr.’s bombshell announcement is much more complicated and nuanced.
To begin with, not all Kennedy supporters are ready to join the MAGA movement.
According to a Pew Research study published on the same day of RFK Jr.'s endorsement, 61 percent of Kennedy supporters had an unfavorable view of both Trump and Harris.
Most notably, 18 percent said they had a favorable view of Harris, and an unfavorable view of Trump. Only 14 percent of Kennedy supporters had an unfavorable view of Harris, and a favorable view of Trump.
In essence, this means that Kennedy’s departure from the race will have a mixed effect on his base. Some will decide to vote for Trump, while others will swing for Harris.
However, most will likely be undecided until election day, vote for another third-party or independent candidate (e.g., Cornel West, Jill Stein, or Chase Oliver), or simply not vote at all.
The last scenario is a risk to both campaigns considering that only 23 percent of Kennedy supporters said they were extremely motivated to vote in the upcoming election.
This conclusion is further supported by the fact that most of Kennedy’s remaining supporters were solidly independent. Only 14 percent of his base self-identified as Republican, while 12 percent considered themselves Democrat.
In contrast, an overwhelming 74 percent of RFK's supporters said they were independent, as per the Pew Research Center.
But perhaps the most critical finding is that many would-be Kennedy voters have already sided with Harris over Trump over the course of a month.
Pew Research Center spokesperson Hannah Hartig reports that among voters who said they supported Kennedy in July 2024, 61 percent switched their support to another candidate by August. Within this proportion, 39 percent said they will vote for Harris, while only 20 percent stated they now support Trump.
Granted, these dynamics could very well change in light of RFK Jr.’s endorsement. At this time, however, the most rational conclusion is that RFK Jr.’s departure from the race will only make the race between Harris and Trump even more competitive and harder to win, rather than help one candidate over another.
In short, RFK Jr.’s eclectic blend of progressive, conservative, and libertarian beliefs cultivated a unique base of supporters who do not fit neatly into the traditional Republican or Democrat categories.
For example, a Kennedy supporter may be compelled to vote for Trump to reverse a perceived erosion of free speech, but also be turned off by his pro-life stance on abortion. Similarly, a Kennedy supporter may be drawn to Harris for her stance on making housing more affordable, but strongly disagree with her interventionist stance on foreign policy.
For these reasons, Kennedy’s base is in a serious conundrum, and it would be inaccurate to fully assume they are ready to assimilate into the Republican Party.
Only time will tell how RFK Jr.’s endorsement will determine the outcome of this unpredictable election year.
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Jett James Pruitt is a Native American, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of the bestselling book THROUGH THE EYES OF A YOUNG AMERICAN. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheGenZPost.com, and a political strategist specializing in Generation Z voter trends. His next book, THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE: What America's Political Parties Must Do To Win Over Generation Z, will be released in major bookstores worldwide in early 2025.
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