Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr hired a sitting Republican state lawmaker to work on his campaign, The New Republic reported.
Aidan Ankarberg an NRA-endorsed GOP lawmaker was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature in 2021. Ankarberg is also an election denier who signed on to a 2022 letter demanding “a 50-state audit” of the 2020 presidential election.
Ankarberg’s role and title on Kennedy’s campaign is not clear, but campaign manager Dennis Kucinich told The New Republic that their new Republican hire is an indication of RFK Jr’s “crossover appeal”.
“He’s got the broadest appeal of anybody that’s run in a long time,” Kucinich said.
“Mr. Kennedy has crossover appeal. And it’s really powerful. And we had Republicans who are coming over. We have independents. We have libertarians, we have conservatives, we have liberals, every stripe of political following and endeavor is moving toward our campaign,” he added.
But, New Hampshire Democrats find the move shocking.
“Well, I’ve been around primaries for many decades, and never has a Republican state representative worked for a Democratic candidate and never has a Democratic state representative worked for a Republican yet,” Ray Buckley, the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party said. “This is a paid employee. This isn’t someone who endorsed him. This is off the charts weird.”
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist launched a long shot bid to challenge incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2024.
His campaign has failed to gain much traction and he has repeatedly come under scrutiny for espousing Republican talking points. Earlier this week, he said he would support a three-month abortion ban, a stance which put him out of step with the majority of the Democratic party. He later walked back his comments.
