(NewsNation) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making a dent in polls, getting in the way of Biden’s hopes of winning the first nominating contests of the 2024 election.
Kennedy, a nephew of President John F. Kennedy, comes with name recognition. He has seen a slight boost in recent polling, reaching voters who may view President Joe Biden as too old or are frustrated over his addressing of the economy and inflation.
Recent numbers show Kennedy with 15% of the Democratic vote. Biden is currently polling at 62%.
Despite being a fringe candidate, Kennedy could win the election’s first nominating contest due to a calendar dilemma.
The Democratic National Convention wants to hold the first primary in South Carolina, the state that fueled the 2020 nomination. This move would push New Hampshire to second, the state that historically goes first.
President Biden has pushed for voting to start in South Carolina to kick off the primary in a racially diverse state, to “rid the nominating process of restrictive, anti-worker caucuses” and “reflect the overall diversity” of the nation.
However, New Hampshire’s law says it must hold the first primary a week before any other contest. If New Hampshire ignores the DNC rules and goes first, Biden wouldn’t appear on the ballot, allowing Kennedy or Marianne Williamson to beat him.
The party wants Democrats in New Hampshire and Iowa that if they defy Biden and move forward with the contests, they could be stripped of their national convention delegates.
All this is adding fuel to Kennedy’s campaign, who has positioned himself as a Democrat but has taken a very different stance than Biden.
Kennedy is known for being an anti-vaccine activist and is accused of spreading pro-Russian talking points. YouTube recently took down a video where Kennedy appears in a podcast for spreading what it identified as vaccine misinformation.
Teasing a major policy speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Kennedy says he will announce a “fundamentally new direction for American foreign policy.”