Political analyst Jennifer Rubin predicted Saturday that former President Donald Trump’s “October surprise” could include former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On Friday, Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer, dropped out of this year’s presidential race and endorsed Trump, the GOP presidential candidate, over Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate. Later that night, Kennedy Jr. joined Trump on stage at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona. When introducing him, Trump called Kennedy Jr. “a man who has been an extraordinary champion of many of these values ​​that we all share.”
There is speculation among some that Trump may offer Kennedy Jr. a role in his administration in exchange for his support.
In an interview on MSNBC The Saturday Show with Jonathan CapehartRubin, a former conservative political commentator throughout his career and became a vocal critic of Trump in September 2020, said about the Kennedy Jr. endorsement.
When asked by Capehart what influence Kennedy Jr. in the current two-way race, Rubin noted how he is a “perfect match” for Trump as he predicted that US presidential candidate from Ohio Senator JD Vance should be “glued to the phone”. because Trump could pull Kennedy Jr. as an “October surprise.”
“The more people know about Bobby Kennedy, the more people say they don’t want to vote for him. I think he’s a good match for Donald Trump,” Rubin said before making his prediction. “If I were J.D. Vance, I’d stay on the phone because he’s probably the guy Trump is going to have as an October surprise. With all the cockamamie theories about the impeachment, he’s more Trump than Kennedy.”
“October surprise” refers to the last event or revelation that can change the trajectory of the presidential election because it can cause irreparable damage to one candidate and increase the other.
Newsweek has reached out to a Vance campaign spokesman via email for comment.
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Kennedy Jr., the son of 1968 Democratic presidential candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of Democratic President John F. Kennedy, has gained attention in recent years for his skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccination. He has also courted controversy on several occasions while on the campaign trail. Earlier this month, Kennedy admitted to throwing a dead bear cub in Central Park in Manhattan 10 years earlier, saying that he and the friends he helped thought the act was “funny.”
In response to Rubin’s remarks, Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, condemned him in an emailed statement Newsweek on Sunday.
“Jennifer Rubin is a loser with brain-damaged Trump Derangement Syndrome. The Never Trump movement is on its deathbed, and she’s doing everything she can to stay relevant, including making up lies and lies. Convincing herself of delusional reality,” he said. .
Although it is unclear how Kennedy Jr.’s decision was made. to delay the campaign will affect the already tight race, Rubin’s prediction comes after Vance has had a difficult time in the polls since Trump announced her as his running mate at the Republican National Convention (RNC). in July.
The early polling issue seems to be changing in some polls, with the latest Morning Consult research showing that voters are now only 2 points more likely to be unfavorable to Vance.
Poll aggregation site FiveThirtyEight showed an unfavorable opinion of Vance at 43.2 percent and a favorable opinion of him at 33.2 percent. That’s a net difference of 10 percentage points, the first time FiveThirtyEight has been in double digits since Vance entered the race.
FiveThirtyEight’s results, which were most recently updated on Wednesday, are based on projections of 95 percent of polls falling within that range.
Despite concerns about Vance’s poll numbers, the Trump campaign and even Trump himself stood firm with Vance’s decision as vice president.
Trump’s spokesman, Cheung, denied reports that Trump regretted choosing Vance as his running mate in a statement Newsweek last month.
“President Trump is very happy with the choice he made with Senator Vance, and they are the perfect team to take back the White House. Continue,” he said.
