DALLAS — He’s an independent candidate running for president, but he certainly has the name.
And polls show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doing well with young and independent voters, with a recent New York Times/Siena College poll showing him at 24% in six battleground states while receiving more support from Gen Z than President Joe Biden or Donald Trump, the leading candidates from the two major parties.
And a survey from Quinnipiac University showed Kennedy grabbing 22% overall support compared to Biden’s 39% and Trump’s 36%.
“The last independent candidate to get that high this early was Teddy Roosevelt, so that’s 100 years ago with the Bull Moose party, so I feel like I’m in a good position right now,” Kennedy told us on Inside Texas Politics. “And I feel also that those are the two weakest candidates for President from major parties in recent decades. And so, I feel very good about my chances.”
Kennedy says much of his support – and money – is coming from people who have never donated to political campaigns before, and that makes him confident in his “spoiler” role.
There is still work to be done as even he admits it will be very challenging to get on the ballot in all 50 states.
And the independent candidate continues to take heat for being an “anti-vaxxer,” criticized for being one of the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists. Kennedy is the chairman of Children's Health Defense, an organization which has campaigned against vaccination and fluoride in drinking water.
He also recently claimed on the Joe Rogan Experience that "WiFi radiation" could be causing autism, eczema, asthma and other chronic illnesses. On another podcast, Kennedy claimed that atrazine in the water supply was causing more children to identify as transgender. Neither of these claims are supported by any credible scientific evidence.
While he didn’t discuss these claims during our conversation, he did tell us what he thinks are the two most urgent issues facing this country right now.
“I think the wars are most important and also the destruction of the middle class in this country, the price of housing particularly. You know, the fact we have a whole generation of kids that are not going to get into houses, who, the polls show, have lost faith in our country, lost hope in their future,” said Kennedy.
He also addressed a recent photo that showed him barefoot on an American Airlines flight to Dallas.
“I don’t like wearing shoes. I never have,” he relayed.
And it should be pointed out Kennedy was wearing shoes during our interview.
“It’s painful. I was going to take them off, but I don’t want another video out there right now,” he said while laughing.