Some may scoff and say Robert F. Kennedy Jr., polling in single digits before pulling out of the race, doesn’t have much weight to throw behind former President Trump. But Kennedy, whose family name has been among the most recognizable in Democratic politics for decades, has become the latest in the growing membership of the “used to be” group.
RFK Jr., is the son of former senator and famed attorney general during the civil rights struggle, “Bobby” Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign in 1968. That was five years after his uncle, JFK, was shot and killed riding in his presidential motorcade in Dallas.
RFK Jr. announced Friday he is seeking to remove his name from ballots in battleground states. In his announcement news conference, he blasted the Democratic Party for its efforts in “preventing” him from gaining ballot access and said he believes he would have won the nomination and the election “in an honest system.” He also accused the party of “abandoning democracy.”
Kennedy explained Friday that he had resigned from the party in October because “it had become the party of war, censorship of corruption, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Ag and Big Money.”
At least one member of the Kennedy family has served in federal elective office from 1947-2011, according to The Boston Globe.
"Our television networks expose themselves as Democratic Party organs. The DNC-allied mainstream media networks maintain a near-perfect embargo on interviews with me …. Your institutions have made themselves government mouthpieces and stenographers for the organs of power. You didn't alone cause the devolution of American democracy, but you could have prevented it." (RFK Jr. on Friday, 8/23/2024, addressing media representatives)
The 'used-to-be' crowd
RFK's withdrawal and subsequent endorsement of Trump will be the origin of the boost for the former president's White House run, Ryan Fournier, founder of Students for Trump, said on American Family Radio Monday. In spite of Kennedy’s polling, “I’m really hopeful about this endorsement, and I think it’s going to do a lot of good,” Fournier told show host Jenna Ellis.
Regardless of impact, Kennedy’s decision shows further decay for the Democrats, he argued.
“It’s really starting to prove and show that the Democratic Party is not what it used to be. Look at Trump, he used to be a Democrat. Elon Musk used to be a Democrat. Tulsi Gabbard used to be a Democrat. Now RFK Jr. used to be a Democrat. All these Democrats and others I know all left the party for a reason.”
Biden not only Democrat to be railroaded
Democrats “worked overtime” to get RFK Jr., out of the race, and they’re doing the same thing to political activist and social critic Cornel West, Fournier said.
A Michigan judge over the weekend ruled that West must appear on ballots in the state despite being removed because of technical issues earlier this month. West’s campaign then said the Michigan Democratic Party was weaponizing technicalities in “frivolous and unfounded attempts to stifle opposition and debate,” Fox News reported.
Fournier compared modern-day Democrats to the corruption of Tammany Hall, whose bosses ruled New York City in the 1800s and early 20th Century.
“We need to wake up from that and realize that maybe we do need to fight back against this whole system much harder than we have before. Our vote matters. We have to have that mentality across the board to really make some change,” he said.
Most in Kennedy’s family believe the status quo within the party is just fine. They used X to call out RFK Jr., on his decision to support Trump.
His sister, Kerry Kennedy, an attorney, political activist and “proud feminist,” ignored Democrats' attacks on RFK Jr. She reposted anti-Trump comments her brother made more than a year ago when he was running against the former president.
After RFK Jr., announced his endorsement she was joined by four other Kennedys in a statement she posted to X.
“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride,” the Kennedys wrote. “We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to sad story.”
Fournier called out the Kennedys for taking their dirty laundry to social media. “It’s one thing to disagree with someone’s political views. It’s another for family to attack them publicly and put out all of these nasty comments and do all these interviews.”
Fournier: RFK Jr.’s independence a 'very noble thing'
RFK further explained his decision to endorse Trump with a Sunday morning X post saying Democrats have distorted MAGA, the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
While Democrats paint it as a return to America before civil rights, gay rights and women’s rights, Kennedy wrote that he believes the phrase represents a nation with pride, hope and believe in itself.
“I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore,” Kennedy wrote.
Fournier believes Kennedy is sincere and that his positivity will resonate with voters, maybe even some disaffected Democrats who themselves may be leaning to “used to be” status.
Internal polling shows nice gains
Some of the Trump campaign’s internal polling estimated on the day of the announcement that 57% of RFK voters would vote for Trump, Fournier said. “Anywhere around that number is going to significantly help Trump,” he added.
And the impact is already showing in some swing states, Fournier said.
“You look at states like Michigan or Nevada where you might've had Trump five, six points behind Harris, according to the polls. Now those polls are sort of revamped in a way where he's like one or two points [behind] on average. So, there’s definitely an effect. I think we're going to see more of those numbers come out by the middle or end of the week,” he predicted.
