Palma was fired from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign after falsely claiming to be the New York state director and suggesting that supporting Kennedy’s ballot access in New York would help Donald Trump defeat Joe Biden in the presidential election. Kennedy’s campaign manager confirmed that Palma’s involvement was terminated due to misrepresentation. Palma released a statement expressing her gratitude for her time with the campaign and looking forward to watching Kennedy’s progress. Palma’s comments at a Republican organization meeting were not reflective of Kennedy’s campaign strategy, according to the campaign’s press secretary, who clarified that Palma’s role was focused on volunteer coordination for signature collection in New York. The Democratic National Committee criticized Kennedy’s campaign, accusing him of being a pawn for Trump and working to counter third-party and independent candidates in the election. Kennedy announced his independent presidential bid after facing obstacles in the Democratic primary, alleging that the DNC had rigged the process in favor of Biden. The DNC and pro-Biden groups are actively opposing Kennedy’s campaign, with the DNC hiring a strategist to combat Kennedy and other third-party candidates.
Trump’s campaign has been relatively quiet about the independent presidential candidate.
Although Mr. Trump has labeled Mr. Kennedy as “the most radical left candidate in the race,” he has also expressed support for his candidacy, stating, “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 actively working towards getting on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with the candidate confident in his ability to achieve this goal.
He is scheduled to attend a voter rally in Des Moines, Iowa on April 13, where the campaign plans to gather enough signatures in one day to qualify for the ballot in that state.
In New York, Mr. Kennedy’s campaign faces the challenge of collecting 45,000 valid signatures between April 16 and May 28 in order to secure a spot on the ballot.
