Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has claimed in an interview with Dr. Phil that his team has data suggesting at least 57 percent of his voters will choose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.
Kennedy, the nephew of late Democratic President John F. Kennedy, said Friday he was suspending his campaign, withdrawing from the race in swing states because, ‘I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues.’
Speaking to the popular talk show host, Kennedy said that the decision is data driven.
‘What we recognized from our polling is that if I stayed in the race, it would’ve almost certainly swung the race to Vice President Harris,’ he said.
‘I did not wanna give the election, I didn’t think it would be right to give the election to her.’
Kennedy, who says he’s been driven away from the Democrat Party, told Dr. Phil he disagrees with Harris on all the major issues, including censorship, war, chronic disease and the border.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an interview with Dr. Phil that his team has data suggesting at least 57 percent of his voters will choose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris
Kennedy, the nephew of late Democratic President John F. Kennedy said Friday he was suspending his campaign , withdrawing from the race in swing states because, ‘I would likely hand the election over to the Democrats, with whom I disagree on the most existential issues’
He then cited his team’s polling numbers: ‘From the beginning showed pretty consistently that if I got out of the race, 57 percent of the people who were supporting me would vote for Trump.’
‘Me staying in the race could’ve very likely thrown the race to Harris,’ Kennedy added.
Kennedy says that he thinks it’s ‘much more likely that President Trump will get elected’ now that he’s suspended his campaign.
He noted that he still heavily disagrees with Trump’s ‘environmental stances’ but says he agrees with him on the most important issues in this election.
Kennedy added: ‘Our conversation, my conversation with President Trump, was very amiable. He talked about starting a unity party, about President Lincoln and his team of rivals.’
‘I can come in and support him because of these existential issues that I feel strongly about, he feels strongly about, that Kamala is on the wrong side.’
While many predicted that RFK Jr. would be disastrous for Joe Biden, it’s an open question whether he has the same impact on Harris based on polling numbers.
DailyMail.com polling suggests that RFK Jr.’s exit could give the Republican a boost.
Speaking to the popular talk show host, Kennedy said that the decision is data driven and doesn’t want to throw the election to Kamala Harris
Kennedy says that he thinks it’s ‘much more likely that President Trump will get elected’ now that he’s suspended his campaign
Our latest poll with J.L. Partners, conducted from August 7 to 11, found that of 1,001 likely voters only five percent would vote for Kennedy if the election were tomorrow.
He was far behind Trump on 43 percent and Harris on 41 percent.
But when that poll was combined with a second survey to ask whether they lean more to Trump or to Harris the results appear to be decisive: More than half (51 percent) said they leaned towards the former president.
About a quarter (26 percent) said they leaned more to Harris. That could swell Trump’s voter base by a point or two.
Previous J.L. Partners polls had shown he had picked up more support from the left than the right.
‘The data also show there is a small but significant group of voters who opted for Biden in 2020, moved to RFK Jr, and are now leaning Trump,’ said Johnson.
‘These voters—who used RFK Jr as a sort of gateway drug to backing Trump—could make all the difference in states on a knife-edge, and RFK Jr’s dropping out will give Trump a boost in these states.
‘It is a more significant development than anything out of the DNC this week.’
J.L. Partners conducted two surveys of more than 1000 likely voters on voting intention and political attitudes. By combining the data, it is possible to see which way RFK Jr voters lean when the choice becomes Trump or Harris, and more than half lean towards the former president. The polls were conducted from August 7 to 11
Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats and independents to have a favorable view of Kennedy.
And those with a positive impression of Kennedy were more likely to also have a favorable view of Trump (52%) than Harris (37%).
However, Kennedy also struggled to endear himself to political independents.
Although he was running as an independent presidential candidate, polling showed about 4 in 10 independents did not know enough to form an opinion. Those who did were divided equally between favorable and unfavorable opinions.
Expert pollster Nate Silver also said that while Trump made slightly more gains in his election model than Harris did after Kennedy dropped out, Harris is still a slight favorite to win.
Kennedy’s appeal largely rested on being an alternative to the match-up many Americans dreaded when Biden was facing Trump in a rematch of the 2020 election won by Biden.
A Pew Research Center poll from July found that about half of voters who were supporting Kennedy said the main reason they backed him was because he was neither Biden nor Trump, compared with about 3 in 10 who listed Kennedy’s characteristics or policies.
Harris´ move to the top of the Democratic ticket may have further harmed Kennedy´s prospects. An August Pew poll suggested that Harris had gained support at Kennedy´s expense.
DailyMail.com polling suggests that RFK Jr.’s exit could give the Republican a boost
She appeared to have received the support of some women and non-white voters who previously were considering Kennedy.
The confusing announcement Friday was the latest chapter in a 16-month saga that brought brain worms, dog-eating and dead bear cubs into the political vernacular.
Kennedy went scorched earth on his former party, the Democrats, during his Phoenix remarks – but didn’t immediately reveal his plans.
‘I began this journey as a Democrat, the party of my father, my uncle, the party I pledged my allegiance to long before I was old enough to vote,’ he reminded the crowd.
Kennedy then blasted the Democratic Party for ‘canceling the primary to conceal the cognitive decline of the sitting president.’
He later added that the Democrats ‘ran a sham primary that was rigged to prevent any serious challenge to President Biden.’
Once Biden, he said, ‘predictably bungled’ the debate against Trump, a ‘palace coup’ took place.
‘The same shadowy DNC operatives appointed his successor, also without an election,’ Kennedy charged.
The data can also be used to see what happens to people who voted Biden in 2020 but said they backed RFK Jr. now. More than a quarter say they lean towards Trump
‘They installed a candidate who was so unpopular with voters that she dropped out in 2020 without winning a single delegate,’ Kennedy said.
Kennedy also slammed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for not engaging in a sit-down interview yet.
‘My uncle and father both relished debate. They prided themselves on their capacity to go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the battle over ideas,’ Kennedy said. ‘They would be astonished to learn of the Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like Vice President Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with votesr for 35 days.’
‘This is profoundly undemocratic,’ Kennedy said. ‘How are people to choose when they don’t know whom they are choosing?’
He blasted the Democrats for being extra critical of Trump, noting that the GOP nominee was mentioned 147 times during the first day of the just-wrapped Chicago convention.
‘Who needs a policy when you have Trump to hate?’ he asked.
During his remarks, Kennedy pushed that he had been cheated out of a victory by the system.
‘In an honest system, I believe I will have won the election,’ he claimed.
A young Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (right) with his uncle, President John F. Kennedy (left) in 1961. RFK Jr. left the Democratic Party in October and on Friday endorsed the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump
He also told supporters that there was still a chance he could win – as the election could be tossed to Congress if Harris and Trump tie in the Electoral College count.
But Kennedy explained that he started to consider partnering with Trump when the Republican nominee asked to speak to him about his No. 1 issue – solving chronic disease.
The two met the next day, and then later Kennedy met with Trump and his family members while in Florida.
‘I was surprised to discover that we are aligned on many key issues,’ Kennedy said.
‘That arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately and fiercely if need be on issues over which we differ, while working together on the existential issues upon which we are in concordance.’
Ahead of Friday’s big announcement, a court filing beat Kennedy to the punch.
In Pennsylvania, Kennedy put in writing that he planned to endorse Trump, according to the Associated Press.
He also requested to be removed from Pennsylvania’s ballot.
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