(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Democrat insiders were sounding the alarm after an outside group supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid secured a sufficient number of signatures to get him on the ballot in two key swing states, Arizona and Georgia, CNN reported.
The political-action committee American Values 2024 made the announcement Tuesday, noting that there was reason for the Kennedy campaign to be optimistic about getting on even more ballots in 2024.
“The grassroots energy and momentum give us more confidence than ever in our ability to knock out the remaining states on our list of states quickly,” PAC co-founder Tony Lyons wrote.
However, according to the Daily Caller, not everyone was excited about the news.
CNN contributor Van Jones, a former advisor to President Barack Obama, suggested that Kennedy’s ballot presence would likely harm incumbent President Joe Biden and aid the presumptive Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump.
“If you understand basic math, this is a shockwave through the Democratic Party because it takes a lot less than the amount of support he‘s got, especially among young people, to throw this whole thing [for] Biden,” Jones told CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday, while awaiting the returns from the Michigan primary.
Trump, thus far, has vastly outperformed his barrier-shattering 2020 effort in key categories such as black, Hispanic and young voters—not to mention enjoying comfortable polling leads in five of the six most-prized swing states, according to RealClearPolitics averages.
He currently leads Biden by 4.7 points in Arizona in a head-to-head matchup, but by 7 points with Kennedy in the race.
Similarly, in Georgia, Trump leads currently by 6.8 points head-to-head, but a projected 8 points with Kennedy in the race.
“We can lose some states, but we can‘t lose many,” Jones said.
“And so, we‘re having—we‘re going to have a tough enough time in Georgia, we’re going to have a tough enough time in Arizona anyway—but this is a big deal,” he continued, in reference to Kennedy’s presence on the ballot. “This is a very big deal and I think, for me, my heart breaks.”
Recent hints by GOP hopeful Nikki Haley that she could quit the Republican primary and become a third-party spoiler candidate have given hope to some—most notably her Democrat donors and primary voters.
However, pundits and social-media users remain split as to whether her running on the No Labels ticket would do more to hurt Biden or Trump.
If Haley runs on the No Labels ticket who does she hurt most? Biden or Trump? More likely she’s positioning to run for GOP nomination in 2028. #PresidentialElection https://t.co/qx33JM3RK0
— Ted Smyth (@TedSmyth) February 25, 2024
