The GOP is reportedly eyeing Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a strategic threat against President Biden in the early stages of the nomination contest.
In a brief appearance on “The Howie Carr Show” on Monday, former President Trump himself gave a somewhat positive nod to Kennedy.
“Just wait,” Trump advised Kennedy. “He’s been very nice to me, I’ve actually had a very nice relationship with him over the years. He’s a very smart guy, and a good guy.”
“He’s a common sense guy and so am I. So, whether you’re conservative or liberal, common sense is common sense,” Trump said of his potential rival. “The amount of running I do is common sense. He’s doing really well, I saw a poll, he’s at 22. That’s pretty good! That’s pretty good, doing very well.”
BUTTER 2.0? THE DEBATE OVER RFK JR’S ACCOMPLISHMENT LEAVES IF HE LEAVES THE DEMOCRATIC CONTEST
![RFK Jr.](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/06/640/320/GettyImages-1495440490.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits “The Faulkner Focus” at the Fox News Channel Studios on June 2, 2023, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
A nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr. launched his 2024 presidential campaign as a Democrat in April from Boston.
Initially considered a long-shot challenger to Biden — and widely dismissed by the Democratic Party for what they see as conspiratorial views on vaccines and other issues — Kennedy polled in double digits in mid-June, which prompted a reconsideration of his viability in the 2024 Democratic primary.
“More chatter about Kennedy is bad for Biden,” Brian Seitchik, a Republican operative who once worked on Trump’s campaign but no longer supports him, told The Hill. “There’s an alternative out there with a serious name.”
![Robert Kennedy Jr. marching in the NYC Israel parade](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/06/640/320/GettyImages-1496153336.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. marches down 5th Avenue in Midtown during the Israel Parade on June 4, 2023, in New York City. Speculation is rife whether he will run as an independent in 2024. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
“Certainly, Trump understands how to get people to chase the rabbit around the track,” Seitchik told The Hill. “Any attention for Kennedy is good for Republicans.”
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Roger Stone, a longtime GOP operative whom Trump pardoned after being convicted in 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, said in a podcast in April of that year these “incumbent presidents who run for re-election. but who are challenged in the primaries by a significant challenger, even if they survive, in almost all cases, they lose.” Stone mentioned what happened to Jimmy Carter when Ted Kennedy challenged him for the nomination in 1980.
![Robert F. Kennedy Jr. which was seen at a Sirius XM event](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/06/640/320/GettyImages-1496170212.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will speak at the SiriusXM Town Hall on June 5, 2023, in Philadelphia. Kennedy is challenging President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024. (Lisa Lake/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
“I think you’re going to see the same thing here. I think it’s going to be very difficult within the current architecture of the Democratic Party for Robert Kennedy to beat Joe Biden. If I were a Democrat, I would definitely vote If there was money me, I was going to send him a contribution, but I didn’t,” Stone said in April.
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“I think he was a great American. He was a man of tremendous courage,” Stone added of Kennedy. “He’s taken a lot of flack from the American political establishment for his outspoken and I think effective views. And I think this will ultimately help calm Joe Biden for his defeat by Donald Trump in the general election .”