Most polls show independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. pulls votes mostly from Joe Biden but also some from Donald Trump. 

Trump must be aware that some polls are beginning to show an increase in votes being pulled from him. RFK, Jr. may be a spoiler for Trump as well as Biden. Trump lashed out on his social media platform and called a vote for Kennedy a wasted protest vote.

In a two-way race, Trump just edges out Biden 46% to 44%, but when RFK is thrown into the mix, he takes 13% of the vote, which pushes Biden over the top. Trump leads by 2 points with Kennedy out of the race, but trails by 2 points with RFK included — a 4-point swing in Biden’s favor.

Trump called Kennedy a Democrat plant, among other things.

"RFK Jr. is a Democrat ‘Plant,’ a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected," Trump wrote in a series of posts earlier Saturday. "A Vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE, that could swing either way, but would only swing against the Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him."

So, Kennedy responded and challenged Trump to a debate. He wants to go mano-a-mano with Trump. 

When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged. President Trump's rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate.…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 27, 2024

That escalated quickly. In most of the interviews I have heard Kennedy do, he focuses more on Biden than he does on Trump. He's definitely not a fan of Trump but it was Team Biden that essentially forced him to leave the Democrat Party, a party in which his family is legendary. Kennedy is running as an independent. Some members of his family, including a few siblings, are openly endorsing Joe Biden against him. 

Trump went on to bring up Kennedy's far-left views on guns, the environment, and taxes. 

Trump charged that RFK Jr. "is totally Anti-Gun, an Extreme Environmentalist who makes the Green New Scammers look Conservative, a Big Time Taxer and Open Border Advocate, and Anti-Military/Vet." 

"His Radicalized Family will never allow him to be a Republican, and his Chief ‘Funder’ is the V.P. Candidate that nobody ever heard of, except her ex-husband, who’s been stripped of a big chunk of cash," Trump continued, taking a swipe at Kennedy's running mate, Nicole Shanahan. 

Trump said that while living in New York at the same time as Kennedy, he watched the former Democrat convince former Gov. Andrew Cuomo "to make environmental moves that were outright NASTY," noting that upstate New York "was not allowed to drill or frack as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others ripped off New York Energy," causing energy costs in upstate New York and New England to skyrocket. 

Trump got most of that right - Kennedy has always been a far-left Democrat. Kennedy is not an open-borders guy, though. He has made several trips to see for himself the Biden border crisis. He has condemned the open border and blamed Biden for it. 

Kennedy's views on the border and his support of Israel, plus his anti-vaccine stance on the COVID-19 vaccine mandates are the reasons some conservative voters are taking a look at Kennedy. I think it's crazy for a Republican voter to consider voting for a Kennedy, certainly this one, just because of the above issues. YMMV. Why hand votes to Joe Biden? 

It might be interesting to see Trump debate Kennedy but I'm not sure it will happen. Trump has to remain focused on Biden. Getting Biden on a debate stage will be difficult enough without the distraction of a debate with Kennedy. It's a guarantee that Biden will not debate Kennedy.