Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the campaign manager and daughter-in-law to the candidate, argued in an April email to Democrats, obtained by The Washington Post, that Biden could not win the race. “As things are, Biden is going to lose. If Bobby were to drop out, Trump would win by an additional two states,” she wrote. “If Biden were to drop out, Trump would lose. Only Bobby can win this.”
She argued that Democrats had to make sure a president is elected who could handle the responsibility of managing the nuclear arsenal. “I don’t want a president obsessed with the size of his crowds to be given that sacred charge. My bomb is bigger than your bomb is no path to peace,” she wrote. “Nor do I want to entrust my children’s lives to the alertness of a president who, despite honourable service and due to the natural toll of age, I wouldn’t leave babysitting my two-year-old while I went to the movies.”
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr talks during a campaign event held during the presidential debate.Credit: AP
Kennedy’s campaign reached out earlier this summer to Democratic intermediaries, including Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel and director Rob Reiner, in the hopes of starting a dialogue with Democratic officials, according to people familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. No meetings resulted. Representatives for Emanuel and Reiner did not respond to requests for comment.
One day after Biden had a disastrous performance in a June debate with Trump, Kennedy campaign staff reached out to a relative of Airbnb founder Joe Gebbia in an effort to get a message to Ron Klain, a longtime Biden adviser who had recently been hired by Airbnb as chief legal adviser.
“The Dems should nominate Kennedy. He is the only candidate under consideration who can beat Trump,” the message read, according to a copy obtained by The Post. “Please give it some thought. Kennedy would win, the Dems would keep the White House, and Americans would avoid the Trump reprise that so many across this nation dread.”
Klain said in a text message on Wednesday that he heard secondhand that the Kennedy campaign was trying to reach him, but that he did not respond to the request.
A person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the interaction spotted Kennedy at a hotel this week in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from Trump campaign headquarters and Trump’s Florida home. Kennedy, in the interview on Wednesday, declined to comment on whether he was in West Palm Beach or whether he has continued conversations with the Trump campaign.
Trump campaign advisers, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said they were still in touch with Kennedy and his senior team, and some of the advisers were expecting Kennedy to drop out and endorse Trump. In his pitch to Trump in Milwaukee, he also discussed a cabinet-level job.
Since Biden exited the race in July, Kennedy’s standing in national polls appears to have declined, suggesting that Harris has been able to attract some of his previous supporters. A Washington Post average of national polls in July when Biden was still in the race showed Kennedy polling at about 9 per cent. Since Biden dropped out of the race, the same average shows Kennedy polling at about 5 per cent nationally.
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Kennedy campaign officials believe that overall he is pulling support disproportionately from Trump at this point in the race, though there are state-by-state variations. Even if Kennedy did withdraw from the race and endorse one of the two candidates, his campaign believes there are states where he would not be able to remove his name from the ballot. Early voting in some states begins next month.
Kennedy said on Wednesday that he had not had any contact with the Democratic Party since launching his campaign. The Democratic National Committee has launched an aggressive legal and political effort to diminish the appeal of Kennedy and other third-party contenders.
“The only contact I have with the DNC is them suing me through intermediaries,” Kennedy said.
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