The relationship between former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the scion of one of America’s most notable political families, was not always amiable. Kennedy was a Democrat for most of his adult life – but so was Donald Trump. After a falling out that saw the Democratic Party knock him out of the primaries with a Bernie Sanders push, RFK Jr. continued his presidential campaign as an independent while Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance secured the Republican nomination.
On Monday, evidence of a conversation between former President Trump and Mr Kennedy came to delicate that suggests some kind of deal in the works between the two.
The independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reportedly recently held talks with Donald Trump about supporting his campaign for a second presidency and, if successful, seeking a position in his administration.
The discussions, The Washington Post first reported on Monday that come days after Kennedy publicly apologized for a video posted online that showed part of a private phone conversation between him and Trump. The clip contained Trump card He shared his thoughts on childhood vaccinations and largely agreed with Kennedy, a known vaccine skeptic. In the video, Trump appeared to urge Kennedy to support his campaign.
However, The Washington Post reported that it was Kennedy – a Democratic candidate who became an independent in October last year – who later applied for a post that would be in charge of health and medical affairs under a modern Trump administration in exchange for his support.
Ever stranger – especially in delicate of other recent reports of interactions between the two.
See also: WATCH: Leaked phone call between Trump and RFK Jr. shows civil dialogue despite some disagreements
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This is where it gets fascinating:
At a meeting in Milwaukee early last week, the newspaper said, the two also discussed possible Cabinet-level posts for Kennedy – or posts that do not require Senate confirmation. The possibility of Kennedy stepping down and supporting the former president was also discussed during the talks.
I’m extremely skeptical about the idea that RFK Jr. might not only drop out of the presidential race but also jump on the Trump Express. The first part isn’t that unlikely, though, given that Kennedy isn’t doing particularly well in the polls and was denied a spot in the first presidential debate.
But joining the Trump campaign team? Taking a job in a second Trump administration? That seems unlikely.
Still, Kennedy has his favorite issues, mostly related to vaccines and health care. If the Trump campaign had promised him a key role, perhaps at the CDC, perhaps at the National Institutes of Health, would RFK Jr. be tempted to sign on in the hope of seeing some of his policy goals realized?
In the polls for the presidential election, Kennedy was between 5 and 15 percent. He is the only third-party candidate to reach double digits this election cycle. He has a diminutive but committed following. If he were to abandon his campaign and support the Trump/Vance ticket, it would shake up the race somewhat.
It is widely believed that Kennedy’s candidacy would draw more votes from Democrats than Republicans, and that assessment may hold true now that there is a modern presumptive Democratic presidential nominee who is, frankly, a nutcase. But if he openly switches sides, he may well draw with him a larger number of moderate Democrats, even a larger share than he would have otherwise drawn. If that happens, Kamala Harris might as well stay home between now and November 5.
That’s unlikely, of course. It’s unlikely that the Trump team would make such an offer, and it’s unlikely that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would accept it.
But it would be fascinating if this happened, wouldn’t it?
