Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested that President Biden would have dropped his reelection bid earlier if he debated independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
McCarthy argued that the Democrats kicked Kennedy out of their party and that Vice President Harris, who filled in for Biden after his decision to not seek another term, would not have won the party’s nomination had she gone through a competitive primary.
“And think about how the Democratic Party treated him,” McCarthy said during his Friday night appearance on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
“They kicked him out. They wouldn't even let him debate. Had he debated Biden, Biden would have collapsed a year earlier,” he continued. “They would have known, and the whole country would have known, Kamala had been lying the entire time about Joe Biden, but she could not won the nomination if she had to go through a primary. The only way she could become the nominee is the way they did it here.”
Biden debated Trump in late June on CNN. The president's performance during the 90-minute showing sparked even more concerns about his age as he was stumbling over his words and was not entirely clear when delivering some statements. Following the disastrous performance, Biden faced pressure from leaders of his party and donors to refrain from seeking another four years in the White House, a sentiment that was reflected in the polls prior and post-debate.
Kennedy kicked off his 2024 White House bid as a Democrat. In October, he left the party to run as an independent. Recently, his poll numbers dipped from low double digits. On Friday, he announced in Arizona that he would be suspending his run and officially backed former President Trump.
McCarthy, who was ousted from his speakership in October last year after eight GOP House members voted with all Democrats in the lower chamber, said that Kennedy’s decision to endorse Trump could have a “big” impact in battleground states.
“I mean Joe Biden won by 48,918 votes, and he was polling about nine points higher than where Kamala is polling today. So this could be the election.”
“And think of the applause he got in that crowd,” he continued, referencing Trump’s Arizona campaign event where Kennedy joined the former president for the first time on the trail.
“And if you're a Democrat, the Kennedy family is the closest there is to political royalty in that party. And it makes you wonder, would John F Kennedy be a Democrat today because of his positions were much different than the Democrat Party is today.”
The former Speaker of the lower chamber said that Trump should have Kennedy on his plane "at least once a week, and then have him going to other places the other days."
"And I think he would enjoy spending some time out there talking to American public," he said.
The California politician said that Kennedy’s addition wouldn’t swing the election by double-digits, but, he argued, it does not need to since the race is already expected to be close and the environmental lawyer has appeal among independent voters and those discontented with the current state of the Democratic Party.
“I don't think Kennedy is going to bring you 20 percent, but President Trump doesn't need 20 percent, he just needs, last time, he only needed less than 50,000 votes,” McCarthy said on Friday. “So this whole race really comes down to Pennsylvania and Georgia, when you're talking that this could be less than 100,000 votes, but Kennedy attracts libertarians, independents, disgruntled Democrats.”
