The Run-Up · The New York Times

Don’t Ask RFK Jr. About Being a Spoiler

·42 min·4 clips

RFK Jr. admits he became a heroin addict at 15 after his father's assassination.

The episode opens with Herndon explaining that the DNC has formed a new unit specifically to push back against third-party candidates, simultaneously with a Biden-allied super PAC called Clear Choice launching for the same purpose. The concern centers primarily on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is polling above 10% nationally, has secured ballot access in Nevada and New Hampshire, and carries the Kennedy name into an election that Democrats are anxious about. Kennedy is one of the most recognizable candidates in the race and also one of the least fully known, his public profile dominated by his history of spreading conspiratorial claims about COVID, vaccines, and the political system. Herndon goes directly to Kennedy for a lengthy interview. Kennedy begins by explaining what the word Democrat meant to him growing up: the party of the Constitution, of free speech, of the working class, of the environment and personal freedom, of antiwar politics, and of opposition to domination by excessive corporate power. He describes the Republicans of his youth as the party of Wall Street, law and order, and national security over civil liberties. Kennedy argues that both parties have since inverted or abandoned those identities, which is the basis for his independent candidacy. He declines to engage directly with the spoiler question, which becomes a notable moment in the interview as Herndon presses and Kennedy consistently redirects. The episode is framed as an introduction to Kennedy for voters who know his name but not his platform or worldview, before exploring whether he can actually affect the outcome in November.

As heard by us

A focused look at why RFK Jr.'s independent run has Democrats organizing around spoiler risk.

The Run-Up treats Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s independent campaign less as a curiosity than as a live problem for Democrats trying to plan for November.

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Want the straight read on why RFK Jr. is on Team Biden's radar?

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