1 in 5 people would consider voting for RFK Jr., poll finds
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running for president as an independent
- Poll: Nearly half of voters aren’t enthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch
- Poll director: Kennedy appears to be "placeholder" for dissatisfied voters
(NewsNation) — One in five would consider voting for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Monmouth University Poll published Monday showed.
As Kennedy appears to pull support from major party front-runners President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the poll found Kennedy’s potential impact on the 2024 election is uncertain.
The national poll of registered voters from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 says nearly half, or 49%, of respondents are “not at all” enthusiastic about a possible Biden-Trump rematch.
“For most voters, 2020 is an election they’d rather not have to relive,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “The question is whether this discontent creates an opening for someone else.”
Monmouth University posted that 49% of the poll’s respondents said they will “definitely not” vote for Biden, with 48% saying the same for Trump.
As for Kennedy, 6% of those polled say they “definitely” will vote for Kennedy, and 15% “probably” will. If voters followed through on what they have told Monmouth University pollsters, their support for Kennedy could cost each major party nominee 14% of their current base.
“Kennedy’s name may be well-known, but his policy positions are not. However, it’s not clear that knowing those positions will move his support levels either up or down. At the current time, he appears to be more of a placeholder for expressing some generalized dissatisfaction with the likely trajectory of the 2024 nomination process,” said Murray.
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 via telephone with 803 adults in the U.S. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 5.0 percentage points.