Open Discussion on the Sad Horn Tone: Sideshow Bobby Announces Farewell Tour

The least surprising title of all time. https://t.co/m7cqJKwOmN

–Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 20, 2024

The fact that he stayed until it was clear he was hurting Trump rather than Harris shows that this was a botched operation.

More importantly, it was a botched operation. https://t.co/HIlK388PwU

— zeddy (@Zeddary) August 21, 2024

According to ABC News, “RFK Jr. expected to drop out of race by end of week, considers supporting Trump: sources”:

…Sources told ABC News that Kennedy intends to support Donald Trump. But when ABC News asked him directly whether he would support the former president, Kennedy responded, “I will neither confirm nor deny that.”

“We don’t talk about all that,” he said.

Sources cautioned that the decision was not yet finalized and could still change, with one adding that Kennedy is hoping, in part, to finalize things quickly in an attempt to stall the momentum of the Democratic National Convention.

One possible scenario currently being discussed would be for Kennedy to appear on stage with Trump at an event in Phoenix on Friday, though sources have cautioned that Kennedy’s thinking could always change and sources close to Trump say no plans for Friday have been finalized…

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who said in a podcast interview released Tuesday that Kennedy was considering “joining forces” with Trump, told ABC News Wednesday that the choice was “Bobby’s decision” and had her “full support.”

Of the campaign’s discussions with Trump’s team, she said: “All we can do is assess sincerity, and we’re assessing Donald Trump’s sincerity.”…

For weeks, Kennedy, buried under an avalanche of lawsuits from Democratic groups challenging his place on state ballots, accused Democrats of acting undemocratically by trying to deny his supporters the opportunity to vote for him.

Shanahan said Wednesday: “We are being prosecuted for political reasons right now. That is not normal in a democracy.”

Nicole Shanahan admits that sunk costs don’t work in her favor:

RFK Jr.’s running mate says he may drop out and support Trump now because they’re not sure they can get 5% of the vote, and most of their supporters would be Trump voters, so if he stays he’s worried he’ll hurt Trump. pic.twitter.com/OrC1ZFoPEG

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 20, 2024

Good joke, but while Trump will probably mockery Vance replaces him, I can’t imagine him sharing the stage with another narcissistic egomaniac…

Can anyone give me the odds that JDV will be eliminated and RFK will be the running mate by election day? https://t.co/ovzgrAVvDX

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 21, 2024

And what if Kennedy supported Trump? Probably not much: supporters of outside candidates simply wouldn’t vote, and Kennedy doesn’t have much support in the first place. https://t.co/mlnGbWbijA

—Philippe Bump (@pbump) August 21, 2024

… Harris has a three-point lead over Trump among registered voters if Kennedy is included — and a four-point lead if she is against Trump alone. Our poll included a small number of Kennedy supporters (again, because he doesn’t have much support), but they were more likely to have a favorable view of Harris (29%) than of Trump (15%). They were also more likely to have a very unfavorable view of Trump, with 41% doing so.

Many of them might just stay home. If you support Kennedy partly because you don’t like Harris or Trump, maybe you’ll be moved by Trump’s promise to put Kennedy in his cabinet or give him a government job where he can do what he thinks needs to be done. Or maybe you’ll just make a frustrated noise and walk away. That’s one of the challenges of being an outsider: Being an insider isn’t necessarily what your supporters want to see.

Perhaps the most important thing to consider here is that Kennedy doesn’t have many supporters. If Trump wins half of them, that would add a few points to his national support, and by the 538 average, he would still be behind Harris. Making the announcement Friday could be an attempt to take advantage of any improvement Harris saw at the convention, but it’s not as if Kennedy has a large base or is viewed with broad favor by Americans. (Among those who do have an opinion, he is viewed more negatively than positively by a margin of six points in the 538 average.)

Ultimately, it would be a good decision for Kennedy. The question is how good it would be for Trump.

He is an even bigger fraud than Trump. Trump calls him and offers him a Cabinet position if he quits. The recording is made public. Then he tries to convince Harris and is told to get out of trouble. Now he is back and trying to make a deal with Trump. They are both liars and crooks. This was all a setup. pic.twitter.com/98rHdQcXz0

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 20, 2024

It’s tough for the smaller parties who made the mistake of betting on RatF*cKer Jr, though…

Instead of a well-known candidate who would likely get enough votes to maintain his status as a candidate, they get nothing – they might eliminate a few smaller parties.

— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 21, 2024

The answers to this question are even crazier, if that’s even possible. https://t.co/i7buNU7oGc

–Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 22, 2024

Yes, that’s former Trump official and current QAnon spokesman Mike Flynn on the left and self-proclaimed GOP asshole Roger Stone on the right…

For my part, I never saw this turn of events coming. pic.twitter.com/M98FvHPek7

— Damin Toell (@damintoell) August 21, 2024

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