Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has achieved relatively great success as an independent candidate in the American election campaign.
But this week, his running mate Nicole Shanahan has pronounced himself and said the campaign faces two choices; either continue as independents to build a larger base for the 2028 election – or throw their support behind Donald Trump.
According to ABC’s sources, it is leaning towards the latter, and a decision could come this weekend.
The expert: “In favor of Trump”
US expert Frida Stranne emphasizes that it is difficult to draw any big conclusions before knowing more from opinion polls, but says that such a move by Kennedy Jr.’s campaign would benefit Trump’s camp in that case.
– In this situation, where he lost quite a lot when Kamala Harris and Tim Walz got so much tailwind and energy in their campaign, this could be a percentage here and there which is very important in some states, she says.
– Primarily it would benefit Trump. If Robert F Kennedy had run as an independent, it would have put Trump at a greater disadvantage at this point, so that change is probably an improvement for him.
“He has been seen as a threat”
Stranne says there is probably a bigger role under Trump in the pot for Robert F Kennedy Jr.
– He has no chance of being elected, so now he has probably been promised some good ministerial position or an important role in a possible future Trump administration.
How have both Democrats and Republicans viewed Kennedy Jr. during the election campaign?
– He has been seen as a great threat because he won a large share of votes in various states. He has been at 16-17 percent in some states and has thus become a candidate who can take certain electoral votes on his side, and then he has been a threat because it has not been known which side he would have taken the most votes from in that case. So he has been a real threat to be able to spoil any of their election victories.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has a speech scheduled for Friday.
Frida Stranne
Frida Stranne
Photo: Anders Andersson / TT