Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tried to Meet with Kamala Harris to Discuss Cabinet Jobs

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wanted to meet with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris last week to discuss the possibility of serving in her administration, possibly as Cabinet secretary, if he supports her campaign and she wins, according to Kennedy campaign officials.

Harris and her advisers have not responded to the offer of a meeting or expressed interest in the proposal, according to people familiar with the talks.

Kennedy’s actions, conducted through intermediaries, follow a meeting in Milwaukee last month between Kennedy and Republican candidate Donald Trump to discuss a similar policy role and endorsement that failed to produce an agreement. During those discussions, Kennedy spoke of advising Trump in a second term on health and medical issues.

The independent candidate and namesake of America’s most notable political dynasty is exploring a range of options for the future of his presidential bid, which has seen a decline in national polls since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race. His campaign has produced polls it has sought to share with Democrats that it says show that both Harris and Trump would see a boost in popular support in 31 states if either candidate were to publicly announce that Kennedy would serve in their Cabinet.

For now, Kennedy says he is continuing to campaign with the expectation of defeating both Trump and Harris, giving regular interviews, releasing an “America Strong” plan for bipartisan governance and planning upcoming rallies in states like Arizona and Nebraska. But he has also left open the possibility of dropping out of the race if he finds another way to bring about the change he wants in the country, his advisers say.

“We’ve said from the beginning of this campaign that people should talk to each other,” Kennedy said in an interview Wednesday. “That’s the only way to unite this country.”

Kennedy said he hopes Harris will reconsider her offer to meet. “I think it’s a strategic mistake on their part. That’s my perspective,” Kennedy said. “I think they should consider every opportunity. I think it’s going to be a very close race.”

The latest round of outreach follows earlier attempts by Democrats to convince them that Kennedy would be a better candidate on their ticket than Biden. Even after Kennedy left the Democratic nomination race to pursue an independent presidential campaign last November, his advisers continued to privately press for him to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the candidate’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law, argued in an April email to Democrats obtained by The Washington Post that Biden can’t win the race. “As it is, Biden will lose. If Bobby were to drop out, Trump would win two more states,” she wrote. “If Biden were to drop out, Trump would lose. Only Bobby can win this.”

She argued that Democrats must ensure that a president is elected who can shoulder the responsibility of managing a nuclear arsenal. “I do not want a president who is fascinated by the size of his crowds to be given this sacred task. My bomb is bigger than your bomb, that is not the path to peace,” she wrote. “Nor do I want to entrust the lives of my children to the vigilance of a president who, despite his honorable service and because of the natural burden of age, would not leave my two-year-old in charge while I went to a movie.”

Democrats have been attacking Kennedy for months because Timothy Mellon, a scion of a Pittsburgh banking family, is a major donor to both an independent group supporting Kennedy and a separate group supporting Trump.

“Nobody is going to negotiate with a MAGA-funded, non-mainstream candidate who is trying to get a job from Donald Trump in exchange for his support,” said Lis Smith, a Democratic National Committee consultant.

The Kennedy campaign reached out earlier this summer to Democratic intermediaries, including Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel and director Rob Reiner, in hopes of opening a dialogue with Democratic officials, according to people familiar with the effort who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. No meetings took place. Representatives for Emanuel and Reiner did not respond to requests for comment.

The day after Biden’s disastrous performance in a June debate with Trump, Kennedy campaign staffers reached out to a relative of Airbnb founder Joe Gebbia, trying to get a message to Ron Klain, a longtime Biden adviser who was recently hired by Airbnb as its general counsel.

“Democrats should nominate Kennedy. He is the only candidate on the ballot who can beat Trump,” the message read, according to a copy obtained by The Post. “Think about this. Kennedy would win, Democrats would keep the White House, and Americans would avoid the Trump repeat that so many across the country fear.”

Klain wrote in a text message Wednesday that he learned secondhand that the Kennedy campaign had tried to contact him but that he had not responded to the request.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the interaction, spotted Kennedy this week at a hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, near the Trump campaign headquarters and Trump’s Florida home. Kennedy declined to comment in an interview Wednesday on whether he was in West Palm Beach or continuing talks with the Trump campaign.

Trump campaign aides, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said they were still in touch with Kennedy and his senior team, and some aides expected Kennedy to step back and support Trump. In his presentation to Trump in Milwaukee, he also spoke about working at the Cabinet level.

Since Biden dropped out of the race in July, Kennedy’s standing in national polls appears to have fallen, suggesting Harris has been able to attract some of her former supporters. The Post’s average of national polls from July, when Biden was still in the race, showed Kennedy with about 9 percent support. Since Biden dropped out of the race, the same average shows Kennedy with about 5 percent support nationwide.

Kennedy campaign officials believe that overall, Trump is losing support disproportionately at this point in the race, though there are differences between states. Even if Kennedy were to drop out of the race and endorse one of the two candidates, his campaign believes there are states where he could not remove his name from the ballot. Early voting in some states begins next month.

Kennedy said Wednesday that he has had no contact with the Democratic Party since the campaign began. The Democratic National Committee has launched an aggressive legal and political effort to reduce the appeal of Kennedy and other independent candidates.

“The only contact I have with the DNC is that they sue me through intermediaries,” Kennedy said.