Democrats are pushing hard to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from becoming a spoiler this fall in President Joe Biden's reelection bid, including rallying his relatives to endorse the president and telling the public that a vote for his independent bid will in the long run only help former President Donald Trump win his way back to the White House.
"There’s no education in the second kick of the mule," Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, a Biden campaign adviser, told The Hill. "In 2016, we saw the impact that third-party candidates had on the election, and we also saw potentially a fault line of not educating enough [about] what votes for those candidates could mean long term for the country."
As a result, Seawright said, the results of the 2016 election, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, are still being felt in 2024.
In recent weeks, Kennedy announced that he would continue running as an independent rather than joining the Libertarian Party ticket, and has announced a wealthy running mate, Nicole Shanahan.
Both moves have made Democrats uneasy. If Kennedy had run as a Libertarian, he could have tapped into Trump's voter base, not Biden's. Further, he is no longer having money problems, which will alleviate the expense of petitioning to appear on ballots.
The Democratic National Committee has dedicated a department to stop Kennedy's campaign.
"There will be a clear choice facing voters this November and the more they learn about RFK Jr., the more they will recognize that a vote for him is a vote for Donald Trump," said DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni. "We’re going to make sure he’s playing by the rules and we’re going to make sure voters are educated about his extreme positions and who is propping up his spoiler candidacy."
The Kennedy campaign is on nine ballots, including the battleground states of Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada and North Carolina.
Kennedy's supporter base is not clearly defined, but Democrats believe he'll draw from Biden's base, and Seawright said it's important at this point for "base consolidation to happen."
"You’re starting to see the various corners of the Democratic square intersect and come together at a critical time in the campaign season because it’s so important for base consolidation to happen," he said.
Meanwhile, Shanahan, a wealthy tech patent attorney and multimillionaire, this week added $2 million toward Kennedy's campaign after he named her as his running mate.
He denied choosing her for her money, but Democrats are criticizing the move, saying he picked her to help fund his nationwide ballot access drive.
“We’re going to add probably two to three states a week," Kennedy told ABC News, after getting on Michigan's ballot this year.
Democrats are also pushing to make a connection between Kennedy and Trump, including building a narrative around Kennedy's views on vaccines and his questioning of scientific and medical advancements.
Trump has also been friendly with Kennedy, commenting that he knows him "very well" and saying he believes his campaign will hurt Biden's.