RFK, Jr. rejects claim he's abandoned his family's party
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tells 'Your World' party loyalty was irrelevant to his father.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. rejected claims he is acting as a "spoiler" in the 2024 sweeps for either President Biden or former President Trump — while dismissing concerns he deserted the Democratic Party his family personified for decades.
Kennedy told "Your World" Tuesday he will qualify for all 50 states' ballots, and that doing so will further prove he is a serious contender, as host Neil Cavuto cited reports his candidacy would hurt Biden's re-election chances by drawing more votes from the president's supporters than Trump's.
"I mean, my intention is to hurt both of them and… right now I'm beating both candidates and independent voters, and independents are the biggest party. This is the first election in history where independents are the biggest voting bloc," Kennedy said, claiming there are more voters who identify as independent than side with either major binary party.
Kennedy added he has viewed three-way general election polling showing him beating both Biden and Trump among every age group except baby boomers, while tying them with the growing Hispanic voting bloc.
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President John F. Kennedy (Alfred Eisenstaedt/Pix Inc./The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty)
"I think we have a very good chance of winning in November," he said.
Independent candidates in the past have faced harsh "spoiler" claims, including Texas industrialist Ross Perot in 1992 from the right and Green Party candidate Jill Stein in 2016 from the left.
Meanwhile, Kennedy dismissed claims from the left he has deserted the Democratic Party.
Kennedy's great-grandfather, John F. Fitzgerald — known for his charismatic public persona as "Honey Fitz" — served as Boston's mayor, Massachusetts governor and U.S. congressman.
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The late Sen. Robert Kennedy, D-New York (AP Photo, File)
Two generations later, Robert's uncle, John, was elected president and his father — Robert, Sr. — was on the path to the Democratic nomination in 1968 when he was assassinated in Los Angeles.
In the wake of his 2023 campaign launch, a slew of Kennedy kin denounced his candidacy.
JFK's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, called his uncle's candidacy an "embarrassment," while Kennedy's sister, Rory, wrote in a 2023 Instagram post that "Bobby might share the same name as our father, but he does not share the same values, vision or judgment."
Rory Kennedy's message was co-signed by siblings former Rep. Joseph Kennedy II, D-Mass., former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Kerry Kennedy, the former spouse of ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Kennedy disagreed with such sentiment, saying the issues closest to him indeed mirror those of his late father, and half-shrugged when reminded of his family's criticisms.
"If you went down the issues that my father believed and he felt strongly about, I would check every one of those boxes. The same with President Kennedy. Show me an issue that they felt strongly about that I don't agree with them on. So I feel like I am representing the values of the Democratic Party," he said.
"Maybe the party has slipped away from its traditional values."
Kennedy added his father also frequently mentioned the sentiment of, "I don't vote for the party, I vote for the individual."
"[RFK and JFK] understood the dangers that George Washington warned about: partisan politics, that partisan self-interest would subsume and replace and displace patriotism and patriotic impulses."