Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is challenging Donald Trump to a debate, and the former president is calling him a “Democrat plant.”
“Instead of lobbing poisonous bombs from the safety of his bunker, let’s hear President Trump defend his record to me mano-a-mano by respectful, congenial debate,” Mr. Kennedy posted Sunday on X.
“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” he said in the lengthy post. “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. President Trump, who has proven himself the most adept debater in modern American political history, should not be panicked to meet me on that stage.”
Mr. Trump took to Truth Social to bash the third-party candidate on Friday.
“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,” Mr. Trump posted.
“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,” he said.
SEE ALSO: Trump hammers on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.-as-liberal theme
In his X post, Mr. Kennedy gave a preview to what he would ask Mr. Trump on a debate stage, showing how Mr. Trump “betrayed the hopes of his most sincere followers.”
He said he would hit him on not ending the Ukraine-Russia war, Big Pharma and the national debt, among other issues.
“He promised to end the Ukraine war and then colluded with [House] Speaker [Mike] Johnson and President Biden to fund it,” Mr. Kennedy posted. “He let Big Pharma and his corrupt bureaucrats run roughshod over him as President.”
“He promised to cut the deficit and ran up the biggest debt in history. He promised to run the government like a business and then closed down our businesses,” he said. “He promised to drain the swamp and then filled his administration with swamp creatures. He promised to protect our rights and then torpedoed the Constitution.”
The former president railed against Mr. Kennedy again Monday, telling MAGA voters not to support him.
“Why did Junior’s family go so bonkers at the thought of him running against Crooked Joe Biden? Because they are Radical Left Lunatics, and they can’t conceive of their even more Liberal brother running as anything else????” Mr. Trump posted.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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