Independent presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Monday that members of former President Donald Trump’s team have contacted him about him potentially joining the campaign as Trump’s running mate.
Kennedy said he would not be interested in running with Trump although he said he was “flattered” by the idea of being considered.
NewsNation sat down with the political scion to discuss his ongoing campaign for the White House.
Kennedy left the Democratic Party’s primary last October, deciding instead to run as an independent candidate.
In recent weeks, speculation that Trump might tap him as a potential vice president has run rampant.
But according to Kennedy, he is not interested in being at the bottom of a ticket in November.
“I would not take that job,” Kennedy said when probed by NewsNation about running on a Republican ticket with Trump.
But Kennedy was gracious in shooting down the idea.
Would you support RFK Jr. as Trump’s VP?
“I’m flattered that President Trump would offer it to me, but it’s not something I’m interested in,” he said.
Kennedy was then asked if anyone in Trump’s orbit had asked him to run alongside the former president.
Bobby Kennedy Jr is not interested in being Trump’s VP:
“I would not take that job. I’m flattered that President Trump would offer it to me but it’s not something I’m interested in.”
pic.twitter.com/EFykTDmriR— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) January 29, 2024
He claimed, “People from the team have reached out to me.”
However, according to the Washington Examiner, Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita has denied any claim that the Trump campaign had approached Kennedy in an X post .
This is 100% FAKE NEWS – NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) – one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country. For all the fake news- update your stories. https://t.co/HYBJLqSux0
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) January 28, 2024
“This is 100% FAKE NEWS — NO ONE from the Trump Campaign ever approached RFK jr (or ever will) — one of the most LIBERAL and radical environmentalists in the country,” LaCivita wrote in part.
Kennedy attracted a lot of attention last year when he announced he would run for the White House as a Democrat against incumbent President Joe Biden.
Some polls saw him with the support of nearly one-fifth of Democratic voters.
But in October of last year, Kennedy left the party of his father and uncle and opted to seek elected office for the first time as an unaffiliated candidate.
At the time he said he hoped to “rewrite the assumptions and change the habits of American politics” and also called both major political parties corrupt, CBS News reported.
Kennedy is not expected to haul in a lot of support in November, but his candidacy does have some Democrats panicked that he might spoil Biden’s chances of serving a second term.
A recent Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll found that in a race with Trump, Biden, Kennedy and some fringe candidates, the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Sr. attracted the support of roughly 13 percent of those surveyed.
The poll showed Trump and Biden each tied with 37 percent support.
