RFK Jr’s clout: Use it or lose it

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., waves to the crowd at a campaign rally at Brazos Hall Monday May 13, 2024.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., waves to the crowd at a campaign rally at Brazos Hall Monday May 13, 2024.
USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

While the main election drama over the past few weeks has been about the shakeup on the Democratic ticket, the specter of an eccentric ex-Democrat continues to hang over the election.

Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – anti-corporate crusader, vaccine skeptic, and frequent conspiracy theorist – polls at about 5%, the highest of any third-party candidate since Ross Perotin the 1990s. RFK’s numbers are particularly strong among Latinos (24%) and voters under 30 (10%.)

RFK can’t win. But his endorsement could decide a tight election. RFK’s support in Pennsylvania and Michigan (5-6%) is larger than the likely margin of victory. Small wonder that Trump, whose voters are particularly enamored of Kennedy, recently sought his endorsement in private (or so he thought), and that the former president was angry when podcaster Joe Rogan appeared to endorse RFK Jr last week. Rogan almost immediately walked it back.

But RFK’s juice is waning. A wave of controversies – ranging from a worm eating his brain to a bizarre incident involving a dead bear – have hurt him. His favorability rating has been negative for months now. Although he made it onto the Texas ballot, New York booted him for using a bogus address. Other states may follow suit.

Meanwhile, fresh enthusiasm for Kamala Harris’ campaign may counteract the disillusionment that drives third-party interest. With less than three months to go before Election Day, RFK Jr. has to use his kingmaker’s power or lose it. Will he?

More from GZERO Media

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria

During a speech in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, Donald Trump announced a universal 10% tariff on all US imports, 25% tariffs on foreign-made cars and parts, as well as a naughty list of trading partners that were hit with “reciprocal tariffs” on top – to the tune of 20% for the EU, 54% for China, and 46% for Vietnam, to name a few of the hardest-hit.

Palestinians travel in vehicles between the northern and southern Gaza Strip along the Rashid Road on April 2, 2025.

Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Reuters

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel was seizing more territory in Gaza to “divide up” the besieged enclave. He spoke as Israeli forces increased the intensity of their assault on Hamas in Gaza, which resumed two weeks ago after phase one of the ceasefire agreed to in January ended.

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, tour the US military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on March 28, 2025.
JIM WATSON/Pool via REUTERS

How much would it cost for the United States to maintain Greenland as its territory? And what are the revenue possibilities from the Arctic island’s natural resources? Those are two questions the White House is reportedly looking into in the surest sign yet that Trump’s interest in Greenland is genuine.

Protesters demanded the ouster of South Korean President Yoon in central Seoul on March 29, 2025.
Lee Jae-Won/AFLO via Reuters

South Korea’s Constitutional Court will tie the legal bow on what has been a tumultuous period for the country as it rules Friday on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.

After voters elected her to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, liberal candidate Judge Susan Crawford celebrates with Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Ann Walsh Bradley at her election night headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 1, 2025.

REUTERS/Vincent Alban

Republicans expanded their lean House majority after a pair of special elections in Florida, but a conservative candidate lost badly in a Wisconsin judicial race — despite a huge cash injection from Elon Musk.