Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is urging his supporters to back Donald Trump on Tuesday, assuring them it’s the only way to get him to Washington, D.C.
“VOTE TRUMP,” he wrote on X. “No matter what state you live in, do NOT vote for me. Let's get President Trump back in the White House and me to Washington so we can Make America Healthy Again, end the forever wars, and protect our civil liberties.”
The plea comes as Kennedy and his former running mate Nicole Shanahan will still appear on some ballots, including in two battleground states.
Kennedy was able to get his name off of the ballot in most key battleground states, but remains on the ballot in dozens of states, including battlegrounds Michigan and Wisconsin, where some voters say they will still support him—taking key votes away from Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris in what is expected to be a tight election.
A poll from PIC-MRA of Lansing for the Detroit Free Press conducted Oct. 24-28 and released Oct. 31 found Harris was leading Trump 48% to 45%, but Kennedy had 3% support.
Five percent of self-described Republicans in that poll said they were supporting Kennedy, as did 6% of independents, the Free Press reported (the poll had a margin of error of 4 points and surveyed 600 likely voters).
A Marquette University Law School poll conducted Oct. 16-24 and released Oct. 30 found that in a multi-candidate race in Wisconsin Harris led Trump 46% to 44%, while Kennedy—a majority of whose supporters said they would back Trump when asked to choose—got 5% of the vote (the poll had a margin of error of 4.4 and surveyed 753 likely voters).
Third-party candidates could hurt Harris, too. The Detroit Free Press poll found the Green Party candidate Jill Stein—who was blamed for taking votes away from Hillary Clinton in 2016—has 3% support in the recent Michigan poll, possibly enough to sway the outcome. Only 1% of self-described Democrats in the poll said they would vote for Stein, but 13% of independents said they’d vote for her, the Free Press reported. In the Marquette poll for Wisconsin, Stein—most of whose supporters preferred Harris to Trump—had less support, drawing just 1% in a multi-candidate race. (Forbes)
As of mid-October, Kennedy was still on the ballot in dozens of states, according to The New York Times.
“A disputed election result would be a disaster for our divided nation,” Kennedy says in the video. “President Trump needs to win in a landslide, both in the Electoral College and in the popular vote. He can't do that unless my supporters join him. So, look at the big picture. We have to unify.”
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