“The only way that Trump can even, remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot.
If it’s Trump vs. Biden, Biden wins.
With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen,” Palma said in a video of the meeting with Republicans in New York viewed by CNN.
“The only way for him, for Bobby, to shake it up and to get rid of Biden is if he’s on the ballot in every state, including New York,” she continued.
Palma’s comments come as the Biden campaign has argued that Kennedy’s campaign is a spoiler that will ultimately benefit Trump at the ballot box in November.
In social media posts on March 20, Palma said she had been hired by the Kennedy campaign as the New York state director.
While Democrats and Biden allies have organized aggressively to combat Kennedy, the Trump campaign has to this point largely ignored the independent’s campaign.
A Kennedy campaign spokesperson told CNN that the campaign has designated New York as a priority for ballot access, with organizers working in all 62 counties in the state.
A Robert F. Kennedy campaign official located in New York. Kennedy Sr. is appealing to Republican supporters of his independent presidential campaign by claiming that, should he run in New York, Kennedy will assist Donald Trump in defeating Joe Biden.
Rita Palma, identifying herself as the state director for the Kennedy campaign in New York, has stated time and time again—including during a meeting with Empire State Republicans—that putting Kennedy on the ballot in the state will help “get rid of Biden,” referring to her as her “No. “first priority” and facilitate Trump’s victory in the traditionally Democratic state.
“If Bobby is on the ballot, that is the only way that Trump has the slightest chance of winning New York. Should it be Trump versus. Biden triumphs, as always. Six out of seven days are wins for Biden. In a CNN-viewed video of the meeting with Republicans in New York, Palma stated, “With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen.”.
She went on, “Bobby can only shake things up and get rid of Biden if he’s on the ballot in every state, including New York.”.
As the Biden campaign has maintained that Kennedy’s campaign is a spoiler that will eventually help Trump at the polls in November, Palma’s remarks have been released.
Palma gave CNN confirmation that the video was authentic. Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear downplayed Palma’s involvement in the campaign and claimed that her remarks did not represent the campaign’s approach in a statement to CNN.
“Scheduling volunteer shifts for our upcoming signature collection drive in the Empire State is the responsibility of Rita Palma, a ballot access consultant. “Neither nationally nor in New York, she is involved in electoral strategy,” Spear stated. This wasn’t an occasion for a campaign. As a private citizen, Palma made comments that in no way align with the Kennedy campaign’s strategy of winning the White House by securing the support of both former Trump and Biden supporters. “.
On the Kennedy campaign website, Palma has her official email address and is identified as the point of contact for several petition training events.
CNN has contacted the super PAC supporting his campaign, American Values 2024, for a statement.
As part of her justification for supporting Kennedy, Palma cited a number of slides in the video of her speech to Republican voters that was first uploaded to YouTube but has since been taken down. One of the slides listed specific actions Republicans could take to prevent Biden from becoming president. The items on the list included “Get signatures for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Vote for RFK Jr. and go to Pennsylvania to support Trump,”. for President!!”.
Palma introduced herself as a staff member of the Kennedy campaign who had previously worked as a Trump campaign canvasser in Pennsylvania before the 2016 and 2020 elections. Attendees were encouraged to vote for Kennedy on the grounds that doing so would make it more likely that no candidate would win a majority of Electoral College votes, or at least 270 electoral votes. In that case, votes would be cast by state delegations in Congress to decide the election’s result.
My impression is that Bobby is playing the blues by himself. In the event that the Republicans concede that the majority of the northeast, including New York, Maryland, Illinois, California, New Jersey, and Connecticut, will vote blue, Palma asked, “Why wouldn’t we support Bobby and at the very least remove Biden from office and obtain those 28 electoral votes in New York—give those 28 electoral votes to Bobby rather than to Biden, thereby reducing Biden’s 270.”.
“Who will they choose? Trump will be chosen if the Congress is Republican. In any case, we’re done with Biden,” she continued.
Similar messages, urging Republicans in New York and other traditionally Democratic states to “make your red vote count” by endorsing Kennedy, were also posted by Palma on her social media platforms.
She said on a since-deleted social media post last week, “Just a friendly reminder, NY, Cali, Illinois, CT, NJ, MD… let’s take those votes from Biden so Joe’s a loser.”.
You are free to cast any kind of ballot on November 6th simply by signing a petition to put him on the ballot. All we’re doing is spiking the election. We’re just adding to the intrigue, expanding our options, bolstering democracy, and ultimately, hopefully, removing Joe Biden from the deep blue states, according to Palma.
As long as Trump or Kennedy wins, we’re all on the same team now and will remain so in the future, the speaker continued.
During her talk, Palma suggested that audience members who were in favor of the previous president volunteer for the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania’s battleground.
“Go to Pennsylvania and knock on doors if you want to support Trump.”. I carried that out in 2016 and 20,” she remarked.
According to remarks made by Matt Corridoni, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, “RFK Jr… ‘s campaign is speaking up about the quiet part. “.
According to RFK Jr., “believe people when they show you who they are.”. The goal of the campaign, according to Corridoni, is to assist Trump in regaining the White House, not to amass 270 electoral votes.
On March 20, Palma announced on social media that the Kennedy campaign had hired her to serve as the state director for New York. Without identifying the exact organization, Palma stated in the video that she had previously worked for the “political action committee to get Bobby elected.”. Her support for Kennedy and Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization Kennedy founded, appears to have preceded her official entry into the campaign on social media posts made before March 20. She has previously used social media to show her support for Republican candidates.
The Kennedy campaign’s field organizer’s message both confirms and expands upon the campaign’s ongoing criticism of Biden and offers fresh information about potential Republican support. Kennedy regularly attacks Biden on a variety of topics and most recently claimed that Biden poses a bigger threat to democracy than Trump, referencing as proof his own ban from several social media sites during the Biden administration.
The Trump campaign has so far mostly disregarded the independent’s campaign, despite Democrats and Biden allies organizing ferociously to oppose Kennedy. In a social media post from last month, Trump praised Kennedy’s candidacy and called him “the most radical left candidate in the race,” saying, “I love that he is running.”. “.
In order to be eligible to vote in all 50 states as well as Washington, DC, the Kennedy campaign views gaining ballot access in New York as one of the most important and difficult obstacles to overcome. According to a Kennedy campaign official who spoke with CNN, organizers are working in all 62 counties of the state, with New York being given priority for ballot access. During the six weeks between April 16 and May 28, the campaign needs to collect 45,000 valid signatures.
Additional details have been added to this story and headline.
