DONALD Trump’s presidential campaign is in need of life support which even an endorsement by Robert F Kennedy Jr may not provide, despondent Republicans warned last night.
RFK’s decision to reject his famous democratic roots and back Trump’s presidential bid followed a collapse in his own independent campaign, which had plumetted from 20 per cent popularity to just 4 per cent.
In a highly polarised US, however, where results are expected to reflect the tightness of 2020’s controversial election, even this could make all the difference.
Some Trump pollsters like Tony Fabrizio say that more of Kennedy’s supporters would back Trump than Harris in battleground states.
But, privately, Republican strategists remain less sure.
“RFK is the candidate who appealed to those who saw no home with either Biden or Trump,” said a Republican insider in Washington DC last night.
“Yes, he took votes from Biden, but Harris got those back.
“So that leaves those who might have abstained, and no one is sure how many of these he will get above his 4 per cent vote share.”
Kennedy is believed to be seeking a role in Trump’s administration, probably connected to pharmaceutical regulation.
Trump has also promised to release “all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of John F Kennedy” if he were elected.
On Friday US vice president Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination to face Trump in November’s presidential elections.
But with just 10 weeks to go, even Republicans are beginning to worry that Trump may be out of runway.
“We cannot get away from the fact that Harris’ nomination has changed the face of this race,” said another Republican insider.
“From a repeat of 2020, we are now running a replay of 2016.
“Once again we have a female contender who, like Hillary Clinton, has essentially been crowned to become the Democratic frontrunner.
“But this time Trump is a convicted sex offender while Harris is the former attorney general who was tough on crime.”
Harris has surged in the polls since entering the race, with pollsters utting her ahead of Trump in six of seven battleground states.
She is also outraising her Republican counterpart, raising $204 million last month, compared to $48mm of fresh donations attributed to Trump.
“Trump used to have an edge on enthusiasm versus Biden supporters, but Harris has changed all that. The gap on the Democrat side has now narrowed and is directly competing with Republicans,’ said the source
This is partly due to Harris’ unwillingness to lay out her own policies in detail.
“Much like your Keir Starmer when he was running for PM, Harris has relied on a negative campaign against her opponent.
”She is using anti-Trump rhetoric instead of tali about what she stands for. “
In Chicago, Democratic speakers mentioned Trump 147 times just on the first day, Republicans, by contrast, named-called Biden just twice in four days.
The source added: “She has refused to have a single unscripted interview with the press for the last 30 days. No candidate before her has ever dared to be this brazen. But it’s working for her.”
When she does reveal policy details however, Trump regains the lead.
Her plans to control food and pharmaceutical inflation by enacting government-enforced price controls on the High Street earned her the nickname Comrade Kamala saw Trump’s vote share increase to 50 per cent, compared with 49 per cent for Harris.
“We know that her handlers don’t trust her to speak,” added the source.
“So she is being allowed to remain an empty suit upon whom everyone can project their hopes and dreams.
“For Trump to win now, he will need to draw her out and define her.
“And it might be too late.”
