Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scrambling to get on the 2024 ballot in enough states before a critical deadline. And in at least one state, he's counting on former President Donald Trump's loudest supporters to reach his goal.
The Daily Beast reported recently that in President Joe Biden's longtime home of Delaware, the Kennedy campaign has been in close contact with the Independent Party of Delaware (IPD), which has the ability to put its own candidate on the First State's presidential ballot this fall. At least one member of the IPD's leadership was in Washington during the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
"So I was there Jan 6th," tweeted Phil Dyer, who is vice chairman of the Independent Party of Delaware, in 2022. "I left after hearing Trump because everything was peaceful. Never thought he made any threats. Never thought the Capitol would be stormed." And earlier this year, Dyer tweeted excitedly about "Jan 6 part 2."
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In addition to Dyer, others in party leadership are also hard-right Trump supporters. Chairman Donald Ayotte has insisted publicly that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats despite ample evidence disproving that claim. IPD treasurer Kathy DeMatteis has tweeted similar sentiments.
As the Beast reported, RFK Jr.'s entreaties to MAGA don't start and end with his IPD outreach. In May, the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and Democratic political scion spoke in New York at an event hosted by a group with deep MAGA ties. The Constitutional Coalition of New York State, which hosted the event, has also dabbled heavily in propagating the Big Lie (that Trump is supposedly the rightful president).
RFK Jr.'s MAGA alliances are likely an thorn in the side of the former president, who has publicly attacked the independent candidate after polls suggested he had appeal to Republicans. In a post to his Truth Social account, Trump told his millions of followers that a vote for RFK Jr. would be a "wasted protest vote."
"His Views on Vaccines are FAKE, as is everything else about his Candidacy," Trump wrote in April. "Let the Democrats have RFK Jr. They deserve him!"
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The RFK Jr. campaign is trying to get ballot access in enough states in order to meet CNN's qualifications to appear onstage at the network's June 27 presidential debate alongside President Joe Biden and Trump. The network is requiring that Kennedy get on enough ballots in enough states whose Electoral College votes add up to at least 270, and has a deadline of June 20 to qualify. Kennedy also has to register 15% support among voters in at least four national polls, which he has also not done.
The Associated Press reported last week that while Kennedy claims that he's on enough ballots to meet the threshold, his petition signatures have not yet been certified in several states. The campaign said that it had qualified for 19 state ballots constituting 278 total electoral votes, though CNN said it won't consider states that haven't certified his petition signatures.
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