RFK Jr claims Trump asked him to join ticket as his vice president
Independent presidential candidate says he turned down Trump’s offer
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr claimed on Monday that Donald Trump’s “emissaries” had asked him to be the former president’s running mate.
The attorney and Covid-19 conspiracy theorist claimed he turned down the offer and said it suggested the ex-president was feeling threatened by him.
His claims follow a series of attacks by Mr Trump on Truth Social, including the launch of a website by a pro-Trump political action committee called Make America Great Again Inc (Maga Inc), that called Mr Kennedy a “radical liberal” and “radical f***ing Kennedy”.
Mr Kennedy wrote on X: “President Trump calls me an ultra-left radical. I’m soooo liberal that his emissaries asked me to be his VP. I respectfully declined the offer”.
“I am against President Trump, and President Biden can’t win. Judging by his new website, it looks like President Trump knows who actually can beat him.”
A top aide of Mr Trump disputed Mr Kennedy’s claim and denied approaching him to join his ticket as vice president.
Chris LaCivita, Trump’s co-campaign manager, said: “Re-upping this from January … was true then and it’s true now, calling Mr Kennedy ‘a leftie loonie that would never be approached to be on the ticket..sorry!’”
Last week Mr Trump lashed out at Mr Kennedy for being too far left in a video post.
“But he’s got some nice things about him. I happen to like him,” Mr Trump said in the clip. “Unfortunately he is about the ‘Green New Scam’ because he believes in that and a lot of people don’t.”
He called him better than president Joe Biden, saying “RFK Jr’s going to be taking away votes from Crooked Joe Biden”.
“He’s much better than Biden. If I were a Democrat, I’d vote for RFK Jr every single time over Biden.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments