CNN
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign manager said Wednesday that New York campaign staffer Rita Palma told Republican voters at a meeting last week that blocking President Joe Biden’s victory is their “top priority.” He announced that he was fired for encouraging the following: He is volunteering for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
“We immediately terminated her contract for false reporting after viewing a lengthy video in which she gave inaccurate job titles and depicted conversations that never occurred,” Kennedy’s campaign manager said. said daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy. Post to X Wednesday evening.
Palma confirmed to CNN on Wednesday that he is no longer employed by the campaign. She told CNN that she believed Mr. Kennedy was “still by far the best candidate” and said the attention her own comments received was “distracting.”
“I handled the campaign with integrity,” Palma said. “I have nothing to protect. The truth protects itself.”
“My time on Team Kennedy was one of the greatest political adventures of my life, filled with some of the best people I’ve ever met, and I met a lot of people. I look forward to seeing the glow over the next seven months,” she added.
According to a CNN report, Palma told voters at the meeting to help collect signatures in support of Kennedy and to vote for Kennedy in New York in order to achieve his goal of “preventing Biden from being elected president.” , urged people to travel to Pennsylvania and volunteer with Trump. Palma identified himself as the Kennedy campaign’s New York state director during the meeting and in 20 social media posts in March, saying the political strategy he presented at the meeting had been approved by the campaign.
In a statement to CNN, the Kennedy campaign downplayed Palma’s role, calling her a “voting access consultant.”
The Biden campaign argues that Kennedy’s campaign is a spoiler that will ultimately benefit Trump at the polls in November.
While Democrats and Biden allies have been actively organizing to take on Kennedy, the Trump campaign has largely ignored the independent camp so far. Trump himself has welcomed Kennedy’s candidacy, saying in a social media post last month that he was “very happy he’s running,” while calling Kennedy “the most radical left-wing candidate in the race.” It is called.
The Kennedy campaign believes winning the right to vote in New York is one of the most important and difficult steps toward becoming eligible to vote in all 50 states and Washington, DC. A spokesperson for the Kennedy campaign previously told CNN that the campaign has designated New York state as a priority region for ballot access and that organizers are working in all 62 counties in the state. The campaign needs to collect 45,000 valid signatures in six weeks, from April 16th to May 28th.
