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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is warning voters that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid narrows former President Donald Trump’s path to the White House next year.
During a campaign swing through New Hampshire, Mr. DeSantis said Mr. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, would “hurt Trump more than any other candidate” because of the pent-up frustration voters have with the way the former president supported Dr. Anthony Fauci at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“RFK Jr. will be a vessel for anti-lockdown, and anti-Fauci voters if Trump is the nominee,” Mr. DeSantis said, while campaigning alongside New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. “If I am the nominee, they’ll go for me because I stood up against Fauci. I am going to clean out the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention].”
“With Trump, though, he created Fauci. He elevated Fauci. He never fired him,” Mr. DeSantis said. “I think those voters who are understandably very frustrated with how this federal government handled COVID and the lies that were told and all the mistakes that were made with no accountability. They are going to want a vessel for that, and I think they may default to [Mr. Kennedy.]”
Dr. Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under Mr. Trump and President Biden until retiring at the end of 2022.
Mr. Kennedy’s decision to pull the plug on his long-shot bid against Mr. Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, and launch an independent bid has generated a storm of speculation over whether he would siphon more support away from Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump in a hypothetical rematch.
The DeSantis forecast reflects a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll that found Mr. Biden was winning a three-way race with 44% of the vote, followed by Mr. Trump at 37% and Mr. Kennedy at 16%. The remaining voters were on the fence.
Mr. Biden’s lead, however, shrunk to 49%-46% when voters were asked about a two-way race with Mr. Trump.
Mr. DeSantis has been seeking to make the most of the way he handled the coronavirus, touting it as a clear contrast to Mr. Trump on the 2024 campaign trail.
In 2020, Mr. DeSantis challenged the political consensus and took a lot of criticism for it when he lifted coronavirus restrictions on restaurants and businesses despite other states staying shuttered.
Voters applauded the decision and handed Mr. DeSantis a landslide win in the 2022 midterm elections.
Mr. DeSantis, however, has struggled to make inroads against Mr. Trump in the GOP presidential race. Polls show him running more than 30 points behind Mr. Trump in Iowa, where the caucuses are set to kick off the nomination contests on Jan. 15.
The Trump and Kennedy campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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