By Samuel Short September 7, 2024 at 2:30pm
After his endorsement of former President Donald Trump in late August, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign took the initiative to remove their former candidate from the ballot in several battleground states. His intent was obvious as keeping his name on the ballot would compromise Trump’s chances of success and hand the election to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Kennedy had ten states where he sought to do this, but because Democrats fear an open and fair election, they’ve tried to stop him.
Now, the Guardian reports Friday two major victories for Kennedy as his name will be removed from the Michigan and North Carolina ballots.
On Friday, a North Carolina appellate court ruled Kennedy’s name must be removed while an appellate court in Michigan made their ruling the same day.
Kennedy ran into opposition in his efforts with Michigan as Michigan Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office said it was too late when he tried in late August.
Press secretary for Benson, Cheri Hardmon said to Axios on the matter, “Minor party candidates cannot withdraw, so his name will remain on the ballot in the November election.”
Kennedy was the official nominee of the Natural Law Party as their electors selected him at the party’s convention earlier in 2024.
Political commentator Benny Johnson posted the conclusion from the appellate court’s ruling via X.
🚨BREAKING: Michigan Appeals Court just ordered that RFK Jr’s name be taken off the ballot in the state after Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson refused to pic.twitter.com/fiNYVGlh6Y
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 6, 2024
Will Trump win in November?
FiveThirtyEight polling currently gives Harris the slight edge over Trump in Michigan while their national polls also put Harris ahead as of Saturday.
Per the Guardian, as Kennedy himself put it concerning his election prospects, staying in the race would, “likely hand the election over to the Democrats.”
The Kennedy ticket would likely take votes away from Trump if present on the same ballot as the Republican nominee.
The election Kennedy and Trump hope to avoid has been played out before with disastrous results.
With former President Theodore Roosevelt running as the Progressive Party candidate in 1912, Republicans were given a choice between a former Republican president now running on his own and the incumbent Republican, William Howard Taft.
In that case, the Democrat candidate Woodrow Wilson won an overwhelming electoral victory, going on to have one of the worst presidencies in history.
In 2024, Kennedy being removed seems like a given, but Democrats are not playing fairly, they are playing to win.
Kennedy is not totally finished as the Guardian reports he sued Wisconsin – another battleground state – on Wednesday to have his name removed there after the election commission voted to keep his name on.
Democrats want the vote split; if that happens, Harris wins.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London.
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