DNC Launches Billboards Attacking RFK Jr. As Independent Candidate Campaigns In Michigan

 The Democratic National Committee launched four billboards in Grand Rapids, Michigan, targeting independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his Super PAC, American Values 2024, taking donations from a former Trump mega-donor.

The DNC billboards will be up as Kennedy holds a rally at the St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids on Saturday. The signs purchased by the DNC hit Kennedy for his Super PAC receiving $15 million in donations from transportation executive Timothy Mellon, who also donated $10 million to Super PAC aligned with former President Donald Trump, MAGA Inc., last year, The Hill reported.

Both Kennedy’s and Trump’s faces are featured on the DNC’s billboards, which read, “RFK Jr. powered by MAGA Trump. Same biggest donor Timothy Mellon.”

“RFK Jr. isn’t fooling anyone,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd told The Hill. “He’s powered and bankrolled by the same extreme MAGA donor as Donald Trump, and Trump’s allies have already called him a useful chaos agent in this election.”

“Michiganders deserve better than a stalking horse for extreme MAGA Republicans,” he added.

Kennedy, who switched to an independent bid after initially entering the Democratic primary, is still seeking to get on the ballot in Michigan, a vital battleground state, for the upcoming presidential election. On Friday, the DNC also filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that the Kennedy campaign is illegally coordinating with American Values 2024. The DNC alleged that Kennedy is “trying to take the short cut” by having his Super Pac lead the effort to get him on the ballot in all 50 states.

Kennedy fired back on Friday, posting on X, “The DNC is accusing my campaign of FEC violations in the form of sharing state-approved petition formats — petition formats so secretive they are posted on our website for use by all our volunteers nationwide.”

“The efforts by the DNC to suppress democracy, silence descent, and handpick our national leaders in smoke-filled rooms are radical departures from the core values of a party my family helped to build,” Kennedy added.

 

The independent candidate has secured spots on the ballot in Utah and New Hampshire, according to his campaign.

Democrats have expressed concern about Kennedy’s independent presidential run as polls show the nephew of President John F. Kennedy could play spoiler in the 2024 election. In a head-to-head matchup, Biden trails Trump by just two points, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polling data. However, when a five-way race — which includes Kennedy and candidates Jill Stein and Cornell West — is factored in, Biden trails Trump by nearly five percentage points with Kennedy polling at 13%.

“Donors from across the political spectrum are supporting the Kennedy campaign as they are tired of the corruption in the two-party system,” a Kennedy campaign spokesman told The Hill, responding to the DNC’s billboards. “Instead, donors want an independent candidate who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, end the forever wars, unravel corporate capture, and the end chronic disease epidemic.”