A campaign staffer, while working for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential bid, recently suggested a strategy to prevent President Joe Biden from being re-elected. The idea was to send the election to the House of Representatives, where House members could potentially choose former President Donald Trump as the next president.
In a recently uploaded video, Rita Palma, a vocal critic of vaccination mandates based in New York, can be seen delivering a presentation. Her objective is to convince Republican voters to support Kennedy’s bid to qualify for the state’s presidential ballot this autumn. While she introduces herself as the campaign’s New York state director in the video, the campaign clarified on Monday that she is actually a “ballot access consultant.” They also stated that her comments do not represent the campaign’s overall strategy.
Palma, in her comments, reveals her active involvement in supporting Trump’s campaigns in both 2016 and 2020. She proudly states that she possesses a greater number of Trump T-shirts than those of Bobby Kennedy. However, her support for Trump waned due to his stance on vaccines.
According to Palma, Biden is considered the “common enemy” by both Trump and Kennedy supporters. She emphasizes that her main focus is not to assist Kennedy in winning, but rather to prevent Biden from being re-elected.
In the video, she expresses her thoughts on the matter, stating that regardless of whether one supports Bobby or Trump, they all oppose Biden. She believes that this is the top priority in the country.
Palma proposes a unique strategy to achieve this goal. Rather than solely targeting swing states, where national Democrats are typically focused on undermining Kennedy’s campaign, Palma suggests diverting attention to blue states like New York. By doing so, the aim is to prevent both Trump and Biden from reaching the required 270 Electoral College votes to secure victory in the presidential election. This would ultimately leave the decision in the hands of the currently GOP-controlled House, which, according to Palma, would likely choose Trump as the winner.
According to Kennedy campaign manager Amaryllis Fox, Palma is a “ballot access consultant who is in charge of organizing volunteer shifts for our upcoming signature collection drive in the Empire State.” Fox further emphasized that it is not surprising for Kennedy supporters to come from various ends of the ideological spectrum.
“Our campaign embraces a diverse group of supporters, volunteers, and field organizers who come from various political backgrounds. Each individual has their own unique reasons for supporting Mr. Kennedy, reflecting the wide range of perspectives within our movement,” expressed the campaign statement.
The statement clarified that Palma, who is not involved in electoral strategy at the national or New York level, was speaking as a private citizen and her remarks should not be considered as part of the Kennedy campaign’s strategy. The campaign’s goal is to secure votes from both former Trump and Biden supporters in order to win the White House.
The video emphasizes the potential impact of Kennedy and other third-party candidates on the presidential election, which could disrupt its outcome. NBC News had previously reported that No Labels had considered the possibility of their presidential campaign leading to a situation where the election would be decided by the House of Representatives. However, the organization ultimately chose not to nominate a ticket.
Palma explains her perspective in the video, stating that she intends to vote for Bobby. However, she mentions that if Trump emerges as the winner on November 6th, she won’t be excessively disappointed. On the other hand, if Biden secures the victory, she believes that it will be a cause for great distress. According to Palma, Biden’s actions are detrimental to the United States, and she believes that those who have influence over him are responsible for ruining the country.
She coined her blue-state 2024 strategy as “Make Your Republican Vote Count.” This was a strategy she had been advocating even before she became a part of the Kennedy campaign.
Palma argues in the video that if Republicans acknowledge the reality that states like New York, Maryland, Illinois, California, New Jersey, and Connecticut are likely to vote Democrat, then it would make sense for them to strategically vote for Bobby. He suggests that by doing so, they could potentially prevent Biden from winning those 28 electoral votes in New York.
According to her, if the Congress is controlled by Republicans, they will choose Trump to replace Biden.
“We just need four blue states, and there’s no way he can get in,” she asserts, referring to Biden.
Palma, while delivering her speech, confidently presents a slideshow outlining a crucial strategy to obstruct Biden from securing the presidency. She emphasizes that the topmost priority is to support Kennedy’s campaign. Additionally, she urges her audience to actively participate in assisting Trump’s efforts in Pennsylvania.
A video, initially reported by CNN, has been circulating on social media and has drawn criticism from Democrats.
NBC News was able to acquire a 36-minute version of the video from a source who managed to download it before it was removed from YouTube. According to the source, the video was described as taking place at a church in Poughkeepsie and was uploaded on Friday. Although the video has a few cuts, it provides a more complete conversation compared to the shorter version that was shared on social media on Monday. Additionally, the extended video features a question-and-answer session with the attendees.
CNN has confirmed the authenticity of the video, according to Palma. She has been asked by NBC News to provide her response via text message and has not yet responded.
Palma, in the video, reveals that when she was recruited by the Kennedy campaign, she made it clear that she would continue to advocate for this unique and unconventional campaign message.
“I told the person hiring me for a role on the campaign that if I’m given the opportunity to preach and spread that message, I would gladly work for the campaign. However, I expressed the importance of not being restricted in what I say, as I believe this strategy has great potential for success.”
In her statement, Fox, the campaign manager for Kennedy, mentioned that they are currently investigating whether any misrepresentations were made.
“We are passionate about upholding the freedom of speech for all individuals who support our cause, including our dedicated supporters, volunteers, contractors, and staff,” she emphasized. “However, it is important to note that their opinions and expressions should not be misconstrued as representing our official stance.”
Palma did not respond to a question from NBC News regarding her role as the New York state director, as she states in the video, or as a ballot access consultant, as the campaign asserts. According to the campaign, she is listed as attending a “private reception” for donors in Melville, New York, where Kennedy will be present later this month.
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