At a Republican organization meeting last week, Ms. Palma urged attendees to help Mr. Kennedy get on the New York ballot to help Donald Trump defeat Joe Biden.
A New York campaign staffer for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who said that the independent presidential candidate would help former President Donald Trump defeat President Joe Biden if he is on the state’s ballot was fired for “misrepresentation,” according to Mr. Kennedy’s campaign manager.
Last week, a video circulated of Rita Palma encouraging an audience to back Mr. Kennedy on the New York ballot because it would help Mr. Trump beat Mr. Biden in November.
Ms. Palma falsely identified herself as the New York state director of Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy said on April 10 on X, formerly Twitter.
After the campaign watched the video, Ms. Palma’s involvement was terminated, according to Ms. Kennedy, who is Mr. Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law.
“We terminated her contract for misrepresentation immediately upon seeing the longer video in which she gave an inaccurate job title and described a conversation that did not happen,” Ms. Kennedy wrote on X.
Ms. Palma released a statement after the firing and said: “My time with Team Kennedy has been one of the best political adventures of my life filled with some of the finest people I’ve encountered, and I have encountered many. I hold no ill will and look forward to the next seven months of watching Bobby shine.”
In the video, Ms. Palma told attendees of an Empire State Republicans meeting that supporting Mr. Kennedy’s ballot access quest in New York would help “get rid of Biden” and make it easier for Mr. Trump to capture the traditionally Democratic state.
“If it’s Trump versus Biden, Biden wins. Biden wins six days, seven days a week. With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen,” Ms. Palma said in the video.
“The only way for him, for Bobby, to shake it up and to get rid of Biden is if he’s on the ballot in every state, including New York,” Ms. Palma added.
Upon learning about Ms. Palma’s comments, Mr. Kennedy’s press secretary Stefanie Spear said that Ms. Palma is a ballot access consultant who schedules volunteer shifts for the upcoming signature collection process in New York.
“She is not involved in electoral strategy, nationally or in New York. This was not a campaign event. Palma was speaking as a private citizen and her statements in no way reflect the strategy of the Kennedy campaign, which is to win the White House with votes from former Trump and Biden supporters alike,” Ms. Spear explained.
Ms. Palma noted that she previously canvassed for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2020. Backing Mr. Kennedy, she contended, could prevent no candidate from reaching 270 Electoral College votes, leading to a contingent election decided by state delegations in the U.S. House.
“So my thoughts are, Bobby’s moving the blues on his own. If the Republicans face, well, I guess accepted the fact that New York, Maryland, Illinois, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, most of the northeast is going to go blue, why wouldn’t we put our vote to Bobby and at least get rid of Biden and get those 28 electoral votes in New York … give those 28 electoral votes to Bobby rather than to Biden, thereby reducing Biden’s 270,” Ms. Palma said.
“Who are they going to pick? If it’s a Republican Congress, they’ll pick Trump. So we’re rid of Biden either way,” Ms. Palma added.
“We’re all on the same team right now, and we’ll be on the same team later, as long as Trump or Kennedy wins,” she continued.
Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corridoni noted that Ms. Palma’s comments show that Mr. Kennedy’s campaign “isn’t building a plan or a strategy to get 270 electoral votes, they’re building one to help Trump return to the Oval Office.”
The DNC has accused Mr. Kennedy of being a “stalking horse” to “prop up” President Trump.
Last month, the organization announced the creation of a team to counter third-party and independent presidential candidates.
It hired Lis Smith, a veteran Democrat strategist who managed Pete Buttigieg’s unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign, to spearhead an aggressive communication plan to combat Mr. Kennedy, independent Cornel West, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The DNC and the president’s supporters are accusing Mr. Kennedy of being propped up by the Trump movement, as well as highlighting similar Trump–Kennedy policy stances in the areas of border security, U.S. funding for Ukraine, and vaccine mandates.
“It’s clear that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is being propped up and funded by Donald Trump and his allies because they believe that he is a useful stalking horse who could throw the election Trump’s way.
“We need to sound that alarm every day between now and the election,” Ms. Smith said.
Mr. Kennedy entered the presidential race last April, challenging President Biden for the Democrat party’s nomination.
After encountering multiple hurdles by the DNC and accusing the organization of “rigging the primary” and not allowing any candidate to compete against President Biden, Mr. Kennedy announced he would run as an independent in October 2023.
While the DNC and pro-Biden groups are working to derail Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, Mr. Trump’s campaign has been mostly quiet about the independent presidential candidate.
Mr. Trump has called Mr. Kennedy “the most radical left candidate in the race” but has also said that “I love that he is running” and “He’s much better than Biden. If I were a Democrat, I’d vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden.”
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign is working to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a feat the candidate has said multiple times that he will accomplish.
He will appear at a voter rally in Des Moines, Iowa on April 13 where the campaign intends to gather enough signatures in one day to qualify for the ballot in that state.
In New York, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign must collect 45,000 valid signatures between April 16 and May 28 to get on the ballot.
