{"id":27597,"date":"2024-05-24T03:29:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T08:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27597"},"modified":"2024-05-24T03:29:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T08:29:12","slug":"trump-rfk-jr-feud-comes-to-a-head-at-libertarian-convention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=27597","title":{"rendered":"Trump-RFK Jr. feud comes to a head at Libertarian convention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tensions between former President Trump\u2002<\/u><\/a>and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2002<\/u><\/a>are set to come to a head<\/u><\/a> at the Libertarian Party convention this weekend in Washington as both presidential candidates court the party\u2019s voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both candidates will address the convention, and Kennedy has even challenged<\/u><\/a> Trump to a debate at the gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s surprising decision<\/u><\/a> to appear at the event underscores the potential threat<\/u><\/a> Kennedy could have as he seeks another term in the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the Trump campaign wants to do is paint the picture that despite what you think about and hear about RFK Jr., and the words coming out of his mouth, he is nothing more than a far-left whacko,\u201d said Ford O\u2019Connell, a Republican strategist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most national polling has suggested Kennedy could have a more detrimental effect on President Biden\u2002<\/u><\/a>than Trump in a hypothetical general election scenario. A Fox News national poll<\/u><\/a> released last week showed Trump leading Biden among registered voters by 1 point in a head-to-head match-up, but when Kennedy and fellow independent candidate Cornel West were included in the poll, Trump\u2019s lead over Biden widened to 3 points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, polls out of key battleground states paint a different picture. A New York Times\/Siena College survey<\/u><\/a> also released last week showed a slightly larger share of Trump\u2019s supporters, 8 percent, preferring Kennedy in a five-way race. Seven percent of Biden\u2019s supporters said they preferred Kennedy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you look at the numbers, you can see the impact nationally seems to be somewhat negligible or lean against Biden,\u201d said one national Republican strategist. \u201cBut when you get to the battleground states, it really does actually seem to shift between them as to who gets hurt more by RFK\u2019s participation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a 30-point difference,\u201d the GOP strategist added. \u201cIn some cases, it\u2019s a 1- or 2-point difference. But in a Michigan or an Arizona, that might be difference.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has taken notice, attacking Kennedy a number of times on Truth Social. When asked earlier this month whether he would debate Kennedy, the former president said the independent presidential candidate was \u201cnot a serious candidate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. has sent out a series of memos painting Kennedy as liberal on a number of issues and has blasted out emails hitting him over his policy positions and highlighting past remarks, such as those in which Kennedy praised former President Obama and called the conservative Tea Party movement \u201cthe Resurgence of the Confederacy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just last week, Trump slammed Kennedy at the annual National Rifle Association meeting in Dallas, speaking directly to the group\u2019s members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRFK Jr. says bad, bad things and calls you a terrorist group, and I call you the backbone of America,\u201d Trump said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big difference, wouldn\u2019t you say?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar dynamic could play out at the Libertarian Party convention as Trump looks to galvanize support from the party\u2019s members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump is worried and envious of Bobby\u2019s legit support from pro-medical freedom voters,\u201d said one source familiar with Kennedy\u2019s campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those voters, the source suggested, \u201care leaving Trump over his vax shilling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategists say Trump\u2019s move to address the Libertarian Party convention could help move the needle in his favor in a multiway race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolitics is a game of addition, not subtraction,\u201d said the Republican strategist. \u201cIn a God-forbid Nebraska-02 Electoral College showdown \u2026150 Libertarians could be the difference between the presidency, so it is absolutely worth the investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategist was referring to the unlikely but possible scenario in which control of the White House could hinge on whoever wins the 2nd Congressional District in Nebraska, which doles out some of its electoral votes by district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kennedy for his part has challenged the former president to debate him, referring to him as the \u201cmost adept debater in modern American political history.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead of lobbing poisonous bombs from the safety of his bunker, let\u2019s hear President Trump defend his record to me mano-a-mano by respectful, congenial debate,\u201d Kennedy said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The source familiar with Kennedy\u2019s campaign told The Hill that they did not think the back-and-forth between Kennedy and Trump was personal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Democrats, meanwhile, argue the feud underscores the two men\u2019s similarities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth Trump and Kennedy suffer from the same pathological need to always be at the center of attention,\u201d said Doug Gordon, a Democratic operative. \u201cAttacking each other helps both accomplish that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans argue that Trump\u2019s attacks on Kennedy are more strategic in nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGiven his solid stances in the Sun Belt states, I think it makes sense to go after RFK just because at that point Trump only needs to pick up one of the Rust Belt states,\u201d said the national Republican strategist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

thehill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tensions between former President Trump\u2002and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2002are set to come to a head at the Libertarian Party convention this weekend in Washington as both presidential candidates court the party\u2019s voters. Both candidates will address the convention, and Kennedy has even challenged Trump to a debate at the gathering. Trump\u2019s surprising decision to appear at the event underscores the potential threat Kennedy could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[28567,28568,28566,1230],"class_list":["post-27597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-robert-kennedy","tag-the-fight","tag-the-liberal-party","tag-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27597"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27600,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27597\/revisions\/27600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}