(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Donald Trump said on May 2, 2024, that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is “not a serious candidate,” adding that he would have to get his poll numbers up “before he’s credible.”
After leaving the Manhattan courtroom, a reporter asked Trump if he would debate Kennedy, the Daily Wire wrote.
“RFK? I don’t know anything about him. Look, RFK is polling very low. He’s not a serious candidate. They say he hurts [Joe] Biden. I don’t know who he hurts. He might hurt me. I don’t know,” Trump said.
He then continued explaining why he thinks RFK Jr. is not a serious candidate.
“He has very low numbers. Certainly not numbers he can debate with, and he’s gotta get his numbers up a lot higher before he’s credible. But the numbers he’s taking away, they say will be against Biden, but I don’t know. I’m not so sure. It could be a little bit against me, but I don’t see him as a factor,” Trump said.
Kennedy polls at 10% nationally in a five-way race with Trump, Biden, Green Party candidate Jill Stein and another independent candidate Cornel West. Meanwhile, Trump and Biden are locked in a tight race at 41% and 39%, respectively.
Even though RFK Jr. remains far behind both Trump and Biden in the polls, in recent weeks, he has gained ballot access in critical battleground states, such as Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina, RFK Jr.’s campaign reported.
Trump previously criticized RFK Jr. by calling him “the most radical Left candidate in the race” and saying he would likely pull votes away from Biden.
“RFK Jr. is the most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far. He’s a big fan of the Green New Scam and other economy-killing disasters. I guess this would mean he is going to be taking votes from Crooked Joe Biden, which would be a great service to America,” Trump said in March 2024.
However, last week, Trump said that RFK’s campaign would help Biden, writing in a social media post that Kennedy is “a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden.”
