Rebecca Zeljko
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s withdrawal and subsequent endorsement of former President Donald Trump appear to have done little to change voters’ sentiments about the Republican nominee, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
After the former independent candidate withdrew from the race and supported Trump on August 23, some experts he said Daily Caller News Foundation that he could receive an endorsement from Kennedy. However, 64% of voters say Kennedy’s endorsement had no effect on their view of Trump, while 19% say it makes them think more favorably of the Republican frontrunner and 15% say it makes them think less favorably, According to for the survey conducted between 23 and 27 August.
“RFK Jr. — his own presidential chances in free fall — is moving into Donald Trump’s camp,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement. “But is he an asset or a liability? Independents, so crucial to the outcome of the race, aren’t particularly likely to change their views on Trump.”
According to the poll, when likely voters were asked their opinion of Kennedy, 42% said they viewed him negatively, 32% said they viewed him positively and 24% said they had not heard enough about him.
While Kennedy may have had little influence on voters, any impact would be significant in an increasingly tight race. In the two-way race between Trump and Harris, the vice president leads by one point with 49%, while the Republican candidate trails by 48%, according to the poll.
“The conventions are here, the debates are being planned, the rhetoric is getting fiercer, there is a slight numerical gap but it is essentially a tie and the presidential race is heading to November 5,” Malloy said in a statement.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted among 1,611 likely voters between August 23 and 27, and has a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
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Rebecca Zeljko is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” by Also known as Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
