Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign made a “strategic error” in courting former independent presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr, according to a former aide for Vice President Mike Pence.
In August, Kennedy left the presidential race and endorsed Trump, following reports the pair were in discussions. The former environmental lawyer said at the time he did not see a realistic path to claiming the keys to the White House.
Appearing on MSNBC Tuesday, as millions of Americans were casting their votes, former chief of staff for Pence Marc Short was asked whether a win for Vice President Kamala would “be her victory or will it be that simply Trump loses once again.”
“I think it’s more polarized around Trump,” Short replied.
He said Trump has an “animated, loyal base of support that gives him a very high floor, but he also has a low ceiling.”
“I think it was in his advantage to have multiple candidates in this race,” Short added.
“I think it was a strategic error to talk Robert Kennedy out of the race, because if it’s binary, I think there are more people opposed to his candidacy right now.”
Short continued: “I think that’s the challenge. Republicans are missing this the opportunity to have this actual election be about the issues, because when it’s about the issues, I think Republicans will be prevailing this cycle.”
Although Kennedy has formally exited the race, he remains on the ballot in the key swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin despite attempting to remove his name, following rulings from the Supreme Court.
At a news conference he previously said polling showed that staying on the ballot in battleground states could hand the election to the Democratic Party, Business Insider reported.
Kennedy has, however, been able to pull his name from other battleground states, such as Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, and Nevada.
Short was also asked by the hosts which candidate had the momentum as the race for the White House nears its conclusion.
“I think [Harris] has momentum at this point,” the ex-Pence aide replied.
“The reality is that with the issues that Americans care about…border crisis and the economy, inflation, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, this really should be a significant Republican year, but I don’t think that’s the closing message that Donald Trump has had,” Short said.
“Instead, we’ve been talking about all sorts of things like fluoride in the water, eliminating vaccines, condemning Liz Cheney. So, I think for a lot of Republicans…I’m sure they wish this was a more focused message from the Trump campaign.”
Newsweek has contacted the Trump and Harris campaigns, as well as representatives for Kennedy for comment via email.
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