Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has received large-dollar donations from over three times as many former Donald Trump campaign contributors as former Joe Biden campaign contributors, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
While RFK Jr. originally ran against Joe Biden for the Democrat nomination – and received a great deal of negative press coverage as a result – America First conservatives suspect his run as an independent has been designed to help his former party retain power, drawing more anti-establishment votes away from Trump than disaffected Democrats from Biden.
FEC data appears to bear this out, showing 500 large-dollar Kenned donors gave to Trump in 2020, and over 160 donors have given to both Trump and Kennedy this cycle, while there is almost no overlap between Biden and Kennedy donors.
“It legitimately always felt like [RFK] was a Democrat plant to hurt [Trump],” said the former president’s son, Don Jr., recently, adding Kennedy “wouldn’t be there if the Democrats didn’t want him.”
Despite his vaccine skepticism and anti-corporate activism resonating with some Trump supporters, Kennedy is in most respects a standard or even far-left Democrat, endorsing Hillary Clinton in 2016, describing the National Rifle Association (NRA) as a “terror group”, and backing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s calls for a top personal income tax rate of 70 percent, for example.
Kennedy has also openly stated he believe he will take “more votes from President Trump than President Biden,” suggesting he is well aware his run could hand the White House to the latter.
RFK Jr:
“I take more votes from President Trump than I do from President Biden.” pic.twitter.com/nyvcOkz99o— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) October 2, 2023