RFK Jr.’s New Plan? Set Up A Chaotic Contingent Election to Elect Trump

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, MoveOn Political Action called out more details from this week’s explosive New Yorker article that sheds light on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-democratic strategy to spoil the election. His dangerous plan includes sowing chaos in the event of a split Electoral College that leads to a contingent vote in the House of Representatives. The piece, citing RFK Jr.’s campaign manager Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, reads:   

“The campaign is not focussing on specific states but, rather, on constituencies, mainly Democrats in reliably Republican states and Republicans in reliably Democratic states. One way in which she sees Kennedy becoming President is in a contingent election, a scenario in which no one candidate receives enough Electoral College votes to win outright, and the House of Representatives picks the President.”

“No Labels spent tens of millions of dollars on this dangerous contingent election strategy, and now RFK Jr.’s campaign is pathetically trying to recycle the same failed tactic. A contingent election is yet another reckless idea from RFK Jr. to help pave the way for Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda. If RFK Jr. truly valued our freedoms and democracy, then he would end his campaign. Instead, he’s just another Donald Trump puppet,” said Britt Jacovich, MoveOn spokesperson. 

RFK Jr. has already come under fire for using dirty tricks and relying on Republicans to help his floundering campaign stay afloat. Reporting from The Los Angeles Times revealed how he has begged Donald Trump for a potential Cabinet position as a way out. Then, RFK Jr.’s Super PAC – funded by the same MAGA donors bankrolling Trump’s campaign – launched ads, inexplicably running only at D.C. and New York City bus stops.

Background

  • In Colorado, RFK Jr. is attempting a back door to ballot access that undermines voters’ rights by attempting to co-opt the Libertarian Party’s ballot line, causing a spat of infighting within the Libertarian Party as many within the group question why they would let RFK Jr. onto their ballot line at all.

  • In North Carolina, RFK Jr. and Cornel West are accused of ​​“misleading” voters who signed their petitions and violating a state law that requires newly formed political parties to tell signers what the general purpose and intent of their party is.

  • Cornel West’s Justice for All Party authorized three people to pick up and drop off signatures for them in North Carolina. All three individuals are current or past employees of a Colorado-based Republican political firm called Blitz Canvassing, which has generated more than $14.6 million in payments for Never Back Down, the main Super PAC that supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

  • RFK Jr. is also awaiting hearings in New York about the validity of his signatures, as well as the home address he listed on his petition paperwork. He claimed his home is in New York, not in California where he resides.

  • In Delaware, RFK Jr. is working with the Independent Party of Delaware (IPD), which has known ties to extremist, right-wing individuals. Its vice chairman, Phil Dyer, attended the riot at the Capitol on January 6 and recently called for another.

  • RFK Jr. is also working with the “Natural Law Party” of Michigan, which nominated RFK Jr. at a two-person convention led by a part-time magician, while leaders from the same party’s Florida branch called RFK Jr.’s campaign “scammers.”

  • Trump allies have publicly stated they are plotting to spoil the election against President Biden by backing third-party candidates, including Jill Stein and Dr. Cornel West, as well as RFK Jr.

 

This “no clear winner” strategy was the centerpiece of third-party spoiler group No Labels before they inevitably backed out of the race due to their lack of finding a candidate and amid pressure from groups including MoveOn and Third Way. Despite initial promises of a “unity” ticket, No Labels hinted at excluding Democrats entirely, in favor of an all-Republican or Republican and Independent ticket. No Labels’ CEO and founder Nancy Jacobson even openly acknowledged: “This organization is not in it to win it.”


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