Who supported RFK Jr? What polls found before he ended campaign and endorsed Trump
Before he suspended his campaign, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was supported by a small, but ideologically diverse group of voters, many of whom were young and not plugged into politics, according to recent polls.
Kennedy, an independent candidate for president, announced on Aug. 23 that he was removing himself from the ballot in swing states and throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.
“In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory,” Kennedy said. He blamed “relentless, systematic censorship and media control.”
A Pew Research Center analysis published later that day pulled data from two polls taken in July and August to paint a picture of his supporters — supporters he is now urging to vote for Trump.
The first poll, conducted between July 1 and 7, sampled 7,729 registered voters, while the second poll, conducted between Aug. 5 and 11, sampled 7,569 registered voters.
What the analysis found
The analysis revealed that Kennedy’s support had decreased rapidly in the span of a month, dropping from double to single digits.
In July, around 15% of registered voters said they supported him, while only 7% said the same in August.
The dramatic dip in his support came after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris on July 21.
Among those who said they supported Kennedy in July, more than half, 61%, said they backed a different candidate in August, while 39% continued to support Kennedy.
Of those who decided to back a different candidate, 39% threw their support to Harris and 20% did the same for Trump.
Additionally, among the 7% of voters who continued backing Kennedy in August, just 18% said they strongly backed him. In contrast, 64% of Trump supporters and 62% of Harris supporters said they backed the candidates strongly.
The Pew analysis also found that most of Kennedy’s supporters were not aligned with a major political party, with 74% identifying as independent or something else besides a Democrat or Republican.
However, far more of them said they leaned toward the Republicans compared to the Democrats, 40% versus 26%.
Meanwhile, just 12% identified as Democrats and 14% identified as Republicans.
Additionally, in August, a majority of Kennedy’s supporters, 61%, said they held unfavorable views toward both Harris and Trump.
Kennedy’s supporters, according to the August poll, also verged on the younger side. Around two-thirds of them were under age 50, compared to less than half of Harris and Trump supporters.
Further, 24% of Kennedy’s supporters said they paid attention to what was happening in government most of the time, while about twice as many Trump and Harris supporters said the same.
Backers of the independent candidate also signaled they were not very motivated to vote in the upcoming election.
In August, just 23% of his supporters said they were “extremely motivated” to vote, while 72% of Trump supporters and 70% of Harris supporters said the same.
This story was originally published August 26, 2024 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Who supported RFK Jr? What polls found before he ended campaign and endorsed Trump."