Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s withdrawal and subsequent endorsement of former President Donald Trump doesn’t seem to have changed voter’s feelings about the Republican nominee, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.
After the former independent candidate dropped out of the race and endorsed the Trump on Aug. 23, some experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he could get a boost from Kennedy. However, 64% of voters say that Kennedy’s endorsement has had no effect on their view of Trump, while 19% it makes them think more favorably of the Republican frontrunner and 15% say it makes them think less favorably, according to the poll conducted from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27. (RELATED: Third-Party Candidates Undermined Biden Among Disaffected Dems, But Harris Is A Different Story)
“RFK Jr. – his own presidential prospects in a nosedive – bounces to Donald Trump’s camp,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement. “But is he an asset or a liability? Independents, so critical to the outcome of the race, aren’t exactly swayed by him to change their views about Trump.”
Former Republican presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. greets Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Desert Diamond Arena on August 23, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
When likely voters were asked about their opinion on Kennedy, 42% said they view him unfavorably, 32% said they view him favorably and 24% said they haven’t heard enough about him, according to the poll.
Although Kennedy may have had a small effect on voters, any sway would be consequential in an increasingly tight race. In a two-way race between Trump and Harris, the vice president is leading by one point at 49% while the Republican nominee trails at 48%, according to the poll. (RELATED: ‘Egregious’: Swing State Dems May Be Illegally Recruiting Out-Of-State Poll Watchers, GOP Letter Warns)
“Conventions done, debates in the planning, rhetoric getting rougher, there’s a slight numerical difference, but it is essentially a tie as the presidential race roars toward November 5th,” Malloy said in the statement.
The Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,611 likely voters from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27 with a margin of error of 2.4 percentage points.
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