CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris joining the presidential race could dramatically weaken independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign.
Kennedy was polling above 12% against former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden before Harris became the Democratic presumptive nominee, according to the RealClearPolling average. Enten, on “CNN Newsroom,” said Kennedy likely will not garner anywhere near this level of support now that Harris is in the running because his key constituency is dwindling as a result. (RELATED: Trump Calls For RFK Jr. To Receive Secret Service Protection)
WATCH:
‘He Is Not Happy’: CNN Data Guru Says Kamala Harris Joining Race Is ‘Devastating’ To RFK Jr’s Campaign pic.twitter.com/Tb6uNqT1LE
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“Throughout this entire cycle, we’ve been pointing out that there were a ton of voters who dislike both Biden and Donald Trump. So pre-RNC, right, 20% in The New York Times polling, 20% in Ipsos polling. Look at where we are today,” Enten said. “Look how dramatically these numbers have dropped. Look at this: New York Times down to 8% who say they disliked Harris and Trump. How about Ipsos? The same pattern, 7%. This is very different now than what we saw prior … So the fact is, voters are much more apt to at least like one of the candidates. And I think that’s part of the reason why voters are much more likely to turn out because if you dislike both major party candidates, why actually turn out and vote?”
“But that was what RFK Jr. was counting on … I guess, on some level,” host Kate Bolduan said.
Enten agreed, adding, “In fact, that was his core group of voters, right? Those who dislike both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. So what’s happened to him now? Look at this. He was at 15% in December. He was at 10% post-debate. He has dropped all the way down to 5%.”
Bolduan responded that Kennedy “is not happy” about this development, laughing about it.
“He is not happy about it. The fact that voters actually do like one of the major party candidates really is devastating to his campaign,” Enten said. “He might not even reach 5%. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up with 2 or 3%. Not exactly a strong showing for someone who entered the race with some possibilities.”
Biden’s campaign, the Democratic National Committee and other groups previously launched efforts to combat Kennedy’s campaign out of fear that he would strip more support from the president’s base than Trump’s.
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