There has been much speculation about which presidential candidate benefits from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running as an independent candidate.

RFK Jr. is expected to be the most consequential independent candidate since Ross Perot in 1992.

“Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote, the highest share of the vote won by a candidate outside of the two major parties since 1912,” Wikipedia states.

Political analysts have conflicting opinions if RFK Jr.’s independent presidential campaign hurts Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

RFK Jr. said on a recent podcast he takes more votes from Trump.

(WATCH) “I Take More Votes From President Trump,” RFK Jr. Says

WATCH:

Roger Stone said he thinks RFK Jr. would take more votes from Donald Trump, but only if he’s able to get on the ballot.

“To the many nut jobs on X, who insist that I am secretly running RFK’s campaign, as some kind of a psy-op- I actually think that RFK would pull more votes from Trump ( the candidate I am supporting) than from a democrat IF and only IF he can actually get on the ballot, which is an enormous IF,” Roger Stone commented.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running as an Independent is predicated on his campaign mastering the difficult, labor intensive , expensive and arcane process of actually getting on the ballot mostly by petition in enough states to theoretically win 270 votes AND do so in a legally restricted and short time frame,” Stone added.

A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National poll suggests RFK Jr. indeed pulls more votes from Donald Trump.

The poll lists these results for a 2024 presidential election between Biden-Trump-RFK Jr.

Biden – 44%

Trump – 37%

RFK Jr. – 16%

Undecided – 3%

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“Although it’s always tricky to assess the impact of a third-party candidate, right now Kennedy alters the equation in Biden’s favor,” said Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, according to The National Pulse.

The National Pulse reports:

Among party preferences, the poll indicates Biden loses five percentage points among Democrats, while Trump loses ten points among Republicans when Kennedy is included on the ballot. Despite being criticized by his own family, Kennedy’s presence in the election might be beneficial to Democrats, with a notable one in six voters expressing a desire for an alternative option, particularly amongst independents.

The survey was conducted on October 11 among 1,313 American adults.

On the other hand, a poll conducted last month by Echelon Insights indicated RFK Jr.’s entrance into the race as an independent candidate hurts Joe Biden.

“NEW FINDINGS: In our latest poll, we found that an Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would INCREASE Donald Trump’s margin over Joe Biden by one point,” Echelon Insights wrote.

Echelon Insights found these results in a three-way race:

Trump – 40%

Biden – 36%

RFK Jr. – 14%

Undecided – 10%

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