Donald Trump Claims RFK Jr. Is a 'Democrat Plant' to Help Joe Biden

Former President Donald Trump has claimed that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a "Democrat plant" who is running to heighten President Joe Biden's reelection chances.

Trump, who is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee and expected to face off against Biden and Kennedy in November, claimed that RFK Jr. is "radical left" and "more liberal than anyone running on the Democrat side" in a video posted to his Truth Social account on Thursday afternoon.

The former president, apparently concerned that he could lose votes to Kennedy in the election, warned Republicans that "a vote for junior would essentially be a wasted protest vote" before claiming to educate his potential voters on "the true story about him."

"RFK Jr. is a Democrat plant," Trump said. "A radical left liberal who's been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of the United States, get re-elected. A lot of people think junior is a conservative. He's not."

Trump then listed a series of attributes that he claimed apply to Kennedy, calling the candidate "a big time taxer," an "open border advocate" who wants migrants "from prisons and mental institutions" to enter the U.S. and "anti-military and anti-vet."

"He's an extreme liberal," said Trump. "He's radical left. And radicalized also are his family. They'll never allow him to be a Republican, they've said that, 'We will not let him be a Republican."

"The fact is he is a radical left person," he added. "So, Republicans, get it out of your mind that you're going to vote for this guy because he's conservative ... He is not a Republican, so don't think you're going to vote for him and feel good."

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Kennedy campaign via email on Thursday.

Trump also argued that Kennedy's long-standing anti-vaccine views are "fake," pointing out that RFK Jr. himself has said that he is not against vaccines, despite decades of repeating anti-vaccine claims that are not supported by evidence.

"By the way, he said the other night that vaccines are fine," said Trump. "For those of you who want to vote because you think he's an anti-vaxxer, he's not really an anti-vaxxer. That's only his political moment."

"So, RFK's views on vaccines are fake, as is everything else about his candidacy," he continued.

Trump has positioned himself in recent years as pro-vaccine, repeatedly boasting about his role in developing the COVID-19 vaccines through his administration's "Operation Warp Speed" initiative, much to the consternation of Trump supporters who are anti-vaccine.

The Trump campaign ignored Newsweek's request for comment on the former president's vaccine stance, while sharing via email an unrelated statement on Kennedy from senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes.

"Despite the dreams of the liberal echo chamber, Kennedy is an existential threat to Joe Biden not President Trump," Hughes said. "That's why Biden and his liberal cronies are desperately fighting to keep Kennedy off the ballot in several states."

Speculation over whether RFK Jr.'s candidacy will have more of an impact on Trump or Biden has been rife since the Kennedy family political dynasty member announced that he would be running as an independent last year.

Polling has been mixed, with some surveys suggesting that Kennedy could take more votes away from Trump and others hinting that Biden's candidacy could suffer instead.

Thursday was far from the first time that Trump has attacked Kennedy in an apparent attempt to avoid losing votes. In a video shared to Truth Social last month, Trump argued that Kennedy was "more in line with Democrats" and insisted that his candidacy was "great for MAGA."

The former president also predicted that Kennedy would be "indicted any day now," supposedly for "environmental fraud," due to the threat that he poses to Biden.