Environmentalists are calling for Robert Kennedy Jr. to end his independent presidential campaign, according to multiple reports.
Dozens of Kennedy's former colleagues at the Natural Resources Defense Council are making their pleas via full-page ads expected to appear in newspapers in six swing states on Sunday, The New York Times reported.
"A vote for RFK Jr. is a vote to destroy that progress and put [Donald] Trump back in the White House,” says the newspaper ad that will run in Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
The signatories, who included NRDC co-founder John Hamilton Adams, past presidents, and the group's current president, begged Kennedy to "Honor our planet, drop out."
The Independent reported that another NRDC ad says: "In nothing more than a vanity candidacy, RFK Jr. has chosen to play the role of election spoiler to the benefit of Donald Trump — the single worst environmental president our country has ever had."
Also, several other national environmental organizations issued an open letter calling Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, a "dangerous conspiracy theorist and a science denier" who promotes "toxic beliefs" on vaccines and on climate change.
"He may have once been an environmental attorney, but now RFK Jr. is peddling the term 'climate change orthodoxy' and making empty promises to clean up our environment with superficial proposals. The truth is, by rejecting science, what he offers is no different than Donald Trump," the letter read.
The groups that joined in signing the letter included Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Climate Emergency Advocates, Climate Power, Earthjustice Action, Food & Water Action, Friends of the Earth Action, LCV Victory Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund, NextGen America, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, and 350 Action.
The campaign of Kennedy, armed with the most storied surname in U.S. politics, presents a danger for President Joe Biden's hopes of a second term in the White House.
Kennedy is boasting double-digit support, and polling suggests that the independent candidate is hurting the president more than Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
Kennedy on Thursday rejected the notion he might help return Trump to the White House.
"President Biden does not need my help to lose to Donald Trump," Kennedy told the Times.