Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed again on social media that former President Donald Trump's allies asked him to join the presumptive GOP presidential nominee's ticket as Trump's running mate.
"President Trump calls me an ultra-left radical," Kennedy wrote in a post on X on Monday. "I'm soooo liberal that his emissaries asked me to be his VP. I respectfully declined the offer. I am against President Trump, and President Biden can't win. Judging by his new website, it looks like President Trump knows who actually can beat him."
Trump has stepped up his attacks on Kennedy in recent weeks, blasting the environmental lawyer as a liberal candidate who might prove politically useful.
"RFK Jr. is the most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far," Trump wrote on Truth Social in late March. "He's a big fan of the Green New Scam, and other economy killing disasters. I guess this would mean he is going to be taking votes from Crooked Joe Biden, which would be a great service to America."
On Monday, a top Trump campaign aide challenged Kennedy's version of events.
"Re-upping this from January … was true then and it's true now @RobertfKennedJr …. your a leftie loonie that would never be approached to be on the ticket..sorry!" Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita wrote in a post on X, which quoted his denial from January that Kennedy was approached for the role.
Make America Great Again Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, launched a website on Monday that retooled Kennedy's monogram to stand for "Radical F****** Kennedy," The Hill reported. The site spotlights his views on taxes, gun laws, and climate initiatives, among other things.
In January, the New York Post reported that Trump's team had attempted to recruit Kennedy for the ticket, and The New York Times reported last week that the former president had suggested Kennedy as his running mate, albeit not seriously.
In a close race between President Joe Biden and Trump, political strategists have said that an independent like Kennedy could siphon enough votes in must-win states to throw the election in favor of one candidate.