Christian Smith
(NewsNation) – Young voters and Republicans have a higher opinion of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. than the rest of the general public, according to a new NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll.
Approximately 42% of all respondents said they had a favorable view of Kennedy, but among voters ages 18 to 34, that proportion jumps to 57%. Nearly half of Republicans surveyed (48%) said the same, compared with 43% of independents and 35% of Democrats.
“He could have an outsized impact on the race, even if he doesn’t win,” said Scott Tranter, director of data science at Decision Desk headquarters.
All that would have to happen is for Kennedy to pull off one or two percent of any of his competitors in a swing state like Pennsylvania or Michigan to swing the outcome for the White House, Tranter explained.
Political experts continue to debate whether Kennedy’s long-shot presidential candidacy poses a greater threat to President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.
Younger voters tend to lean Democratic, suggesting that Kennedy’s popularity with that group is worse for Biden. On the other hand, the favorable opinion of Republicans could be a bad sign for Trump.
Trump has went after Kennedy recently, calling him a “wasted protest vote” and a “radical left liberal who was created to help the corrupt Joe Biden.”
In response, Kennedy called on Trump to debate, writing in X“When scared men turn to social media, they risk falling into violence, which makes them appear unbalanced.”
When it comes to actual voting intentions, the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll found that Democrats (26%) are more likely than Republicans (23%) to support a third-party candidate now that Biden and Trump are the presumed nominees.
When asked to describe Kennedy’s political views, a plurality of respondents (30%) described him as a moderate. However, Democrats (31%) were more likely than others to consider him a conservative.
“The Biden campaign will try to portray him as a Republican, and then the Republican campaign will try to portray him as a Democrat,” Tranter said. “We’ll see where this goes.”
The Hill/Decision Desk headquarters average voting rate currently shows Trump (42.3%) with a slight lead over Biden (41%) when Kennedy is taken into account. NBC News Pollsuggest that Kennedy could hurt Trump more than Biden.
Kennedy, a longtime environmental lawyer, ran for the Democratic nomination before launching a third-party bid in October. Since then, he has struggled to get on the ballot in states across the country, most recently qualification in California.
In March, Kennedy announced Nicole Shannan, a technology lawyer and philanthropist, as his running mate.
Trump has not yet announced his vice presidential pick, but several people are said to be in the running, including Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, to name a few.
