Democrat 2024 presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hired a Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire—an unusual move by the candidate widely regarded as a moderate appealing to both ends of the political aisle.
“He’s got the broadest appeal of anybody that’s run in a long time,” former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who heads Mr. Kennedy’s campaign, told the outlet. “Mr. Kennedy has crossover appeal. And it’s really powerful. And we had Republicans who are coming over. We have independents. We have libertarians, we have conservatives, we have liberals, every stripe of political following and endeavor is moving toward our campaign.”
Mr. Ankarberg served previously as the deputy majority whip, and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.
The hiring decision was found to be strange as it breaks political customs.
“Well, I’ve been around primaries for many decades, and never has a Republican state representative worked for a Democratic candidate and never has a Democratic state representative worked for a Republican yet,” Ray Buckley, the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said to the outlet.
Buckley added, “This is a paid employee. This isn’t someone who endorsed him. This is off the charts weird.”
Opposition to Democrat Policies
Mr. Kennedy enjoys recognition within Republican ranks and among party voters for his stances on various subjects.Unlike mainstream Democrats, he has voiced strong opposition against illegal immigration and an unquestionable acceptance of COVID vaccines.
“I was a person who ridiculed Trump’s wall,” he said during a recent interview with Tucker Carlson. “A lot of people come to this issue from a sort of nationalistic or even a racist or a xenophobic posture, and I’m not coming from that place. I’m coming from a place of compassion and a place of just concern for our country ... What’s happening to our country is a catastrophe.”
He continued: “So, now I’ve been down there and talked to everybody down there and ... I have a different position. I don’t think you need a 2,200-mile physical barrier from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas, but we definitely need physical barriers in densely populated area[s], definitely because we cannot survive what’s happening here,”
“This complaint concerns the freedom of speech and the extraordinary steps the United States government has taken under the leadership of Joe Biden to silence people it does not want Americans to hear,” the 27-page suit reads.
The lawsuit stresses the fact that Mr. Kennedy was targeted in his position as a presidential contender. Mr. Kennedy remains a staunch skeptic of the mandated COVID-19 vaccines.
“This censorship campaign prevents Mr. Kennedy’s message from reaching millions of voters. It also makes it harder for groups that are supporting his campaign to amplify his message through public sources,” the suit reads.
Support From the GOP
Former president and leading Republican contender Donald Trump has expressed his appreciation for Mr. Kennedy.“I respect him—a lot of people respect him. He’s got some very important points to be made,” Trump told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling during a June 26 interview.
When asked about it, Mr. Kennedy said he was “proud that President Trump likes me, even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues.”
“If somehow it worked out [that] you could get Kennedy as a running mate—and I don’t know, that is far from even technically can happen because of the structure of the Democratic and Republican parties and ballot access and all that—you could get 60 percent or higher in the country and win a massive landslide,” said Mr. Bannon during a podcast episode.
