Robert F. Kennedy Jr. almost blew a circuit during a heated discussion with MSNBC’s Ari Melber over the upcoming presidential election and whether or not Kennedy’s run could impact its outcome as a spoiler.
Melber told the independent candidate on Wednesday that he felt as though Kennedy has shown more warmth toward republican contender Donald Trump over the last few years.
“So, let me finish your question. I win — President Biden cannot win. If I stay in the race, he loses. If I get out of the race, he loses two extra states. He loses Maryland and he loses Virginia. But Trump does better if I leave,” Kennedy said on MSNBC’s “The Beat With Ari Melber” before Melber pivoted to a question regarding the candidate’s “No Spoiler Pledge.”
“You’re saying they should use a poll in October,” Melber said, “and if you’re doing better, Biden should drop out. You don’t ask Trump to drop out in October.”
“I made the same offer to Trump,” Kennedy clarified as the two began going back and forth, cutting into each other’s responses. Coming back in, Melber clapped back by reading the pledge: “Both parties pledged whoever forms weakest against President Trump in the contest will drop out … You want to say that to both sides, not just Biden?”
“Yes, I said both sides,” Kennedy reiterated. “You’re reading off a summary.”
When Melber noted that the information came directly from Kennedy’s camp, Kennedy told Melber he wasn’t there in person, to which Melber replied, “Physically, no… I can’t be at every event, but I cover them.”
“OK. But now you’re being cute, kind of, because what I’m saying…” Kennedy said before Melber interjected, “No, I’m being pleasant, because I’m not trying to be misleading.”
After Kennedy again confirmed that he’d made the offer to both Biden and Trump, he urged Melber to review the footage. “You do seem at times to be warm towards President Trump. And he is clearly warm towards you,” Melber said. Kennedy disagreed with that statement, sharing that Trump recently referred to him as a “radical effing liberal.”
Melber added that he believes Kennedy is a fan of Trump, as the former president called him a “common sense guy” and mentioned that two have “exchanged warm words.”
“What since 2016 — in his first term, and then him refusing to leave office peacefully, and January 6, and everything since then — has made you warmer towards him? I mean, you went from supporting Hillary Clinton against him in ’16 to now, however you want to describe it, the way you talk about him now. Can you explain that for us?” Melber asked in conclusion.
“Well, I can explain to you that I’m running against him, so obviously I don’t want him to be president of the United States. And I don’t think he did a good job,” Melber said. “And if you go look at my speeches, my statements, I am not mean-spirited. I don’t try to feed into the vitriol and the anger and the polarization. I try to respect people, one, because of the office they held, the presidency of the United States.”
He finished: “This is why I say you’re feeding the vitriol, you’re trying to get me to hate on President Trump. You’re trying to get me to issue a condemnation for those particular things, and what I’m saying is I’m not going to talk about those things. I’m going to talk about the issues that Americans care about.”
