PHILADELPHIA, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Some supporters of former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who ended his White House bid and endorsed Donald Trump last month, are now backing the Republican.
In a race that is expected to be won by narrow margins in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris are fighting over a thin slice of undecided voters.
That makes Kennedy’s endorsement potentially significant, as he left the race in late August with around 4% support.
Harris has surged in polls since becoming the Democratic Party candidate in late July and she has a lead in the most recent Reuters/Ipsos national poll, released on Tuesday.
However, some polls show Trump has in recent weeks won over more of Kennedy’s supporters than Harris.
Kennedy’s spokespeople and the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters interviewed 11 Kennedy supporters, five of them from battleground states, after he dropped out and joined Trump’s transition team.
Six of them said they will now vote for Trump and one is leaning toward voting for Trump. One said they will vote for Trump if Kennedy is not an option on their state ballot. One is deciding between voting for Trump or Kennedy, and one is deciding between voting for Trump or Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Only one of the 11 plans to vote for Harris.
Matthew McCloskey, a 26-year-old wellness adviser in Holland, Michigan, supported Stein in the 2016 election and wrote in Andrew Yang in 2020. He was backing Kennedy this year and now will vote for Trump.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/some-rfk-jrs-loyal-fans-are-embracing-trump-2024-09-27/
