Bad news for Biden as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. qualifies for the ballot in crucial swing state of Michigan where thousands could oppose the president over Gaza
Robert F. Kennedy’s campaign announced Thursday that the independent presidential candidate will appear on the ballot in Michigan β which could have huge implications for President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects.
The latest polls in the state have put Biden behind former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
And during February’s Democratic primaries, he lost more than 100,000 votes to “uncommitted,” a protest against his position on Gaza.
Kennedy and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, were able to skip the laborious process of gathering signatures to appear on the ballot because they were instead chosen in the fall to represent the little-known Natural Law Party.
The Natural Law Party has already secured a spot in Michigan’s general election β one of five smaller parties represented.
Robert F. Kennedy is officially on the ballot in Michigan, his campaign announced Thursday, as the minor party, the Natural Law Party, nominated the independent and his running mate Nicole Shanahan as their nominees and will represent them in the fall general election
On the same day that RFK Jr. announced he would appear on the ballot in Michigan, President Joe Biden (center) gathered members of the Kennedy clan to appear alongside him in Philadelphia and officially endorse his re-election campaign.
The others include the parties of the Libertarians, the Greens, the American Taxpayers and the Working Class.
Independent presidential hopeful Cornel West also approached the Natural Law Party, but the group’s president, Doug Dern, felt Kennedy was a better fit. told The Detroit News.
βHe is the most qualified candidate in modern American history,β Dern said in a statement.
Kennedy β the son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and cousin of President John F. Kennedy β has never held elected office.
He was a prominent environmental lawyer, but in recent years was better known as a prominent anti-vaxxer.
Kennedy launched his campaign a year ago as a Democrat but switched to an independent bid in October, angering some members of his historically Democratic family.
As Kennedy gained access to the Michigan election, Biden had gathered members of the Kennedy clan for a campaign event in Philadelphia on Thursday to officially endorse his 2024 bid.
Kerry Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s sister, said Thursday that Biden was a “champion for the rights and freedoms that my father and uncle stood for.”
President Joe Biden lost more than 100,000 votes during the Democratic primaries in Michigan in February against ‘uncomposed’, which was a protest vote over his handling of the Israeli killing of civilians in Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7.
βThat’s why almost every grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden,β she noted.
RFK’s sister Rory Kennedy, a leading documentary filmmaker, said earlier this month that she will not vote for him because she is too concerned about a second Trump term.
βYou know, the truth is, I love my brother, and it pains me to stand against him, but I’m very concerned about the stakes in this election, and I’m very concerned from the polls that I’m seeing. he gets a lot more votes from Biden than Trump,β she told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC.
βAnd I think this election will come down to a handful of votes in a handful of states, and I fear that his campaign and his candidacy as an independent will lead to the election of Trump,β she added.
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by flipping three states Trump won from Hillary Clinton in 2016 β Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania β and also adding Arizona and Georgia to the Democratic column.