... Former President Trump is taking concrete steps to deprive Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of oxygen as they compete for a portion of the same voters.
Trump is going to the Libertarian Party national convention this month and criticized Kennedy, who is running as an independent but who has ties to the party, as "not a serious candidate." Republicans also pounced on the "unhinged" Kennedy last week for saying "red state people are more likely to murder you."
The strong anti-Kennedy sentiment from Trump's orbit comes as polling suggests the independent could take support from the former president, who is looking to galvanize the anti-establishment lane to win the White House.
"Are there lunatics that won't vote for Biden? Are there lunatics that won't vote for Trump?" mused a former Trump campaign adviser. "Yeah, it's a third option."
Many Republicans believe Kennedy, an ex-Democrat whose family has enthusiastically endorsed Biden, will likely take more votes from the incumbent president than his predecessor. They predict Kennedy's still-forming base is coming from displeased Democrats who don't want to support an octogenarian they see as ineffective. Some, they also hope, still respect the Kennedy name.
"I think Kennedy's going to pull real numbers," the former Trump adviser added, expecting more to come from Biden's coalition. ...