RFK Jr. proposes 'no-spoiler' pledge with Biden to defeat Trump

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proposed to take a "no-spoiler" pledge with President Joe Biden at a campaign event in New York Wednesday, as he feuds with former President Donald Trump.

The pledge, as he laid out, would have Kennedy and Biden co-fund a 50-state poll of more than 30,000 people in mid-October that would pit each of them against Trump in a two-man race and agreeing that whoever performs weakest against him will drop out of the presidential race.

After presenting results from a campaign-commissioned poll that showed scenarios where he could win against both Biden and Trump in separate head-to-head races, Kennedy alleged Biden is the "spoiler" in the race, not him.

Democrats quickly rejected the argument on Wednesday. Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corridoni called Kennedy a spoiler candidate in a statement, saying his "VEEP-like performance today does nothing to dispel that notion — it only reinforces how deeply unserious his campaign is," referencing the HBO comedy.

Initially running as a Democrat, in line with the Kennedy dynasty, the presidential hopeful switched parties to run as an Independent. In March, RFK announced Nicole Shanahan, a California-based attorney and entrepreneur as his running mate in his long-shot bid for the White House.

RFK appears to be drawing voters aged 18 to 34 and 35 to 49 away from Trump, according to a national poll released April 18. The Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research poll showed President Joe Biden narrowly leading Trump by a single point. However, when RFK was added to the test ballot, Biden’s lead over Trump grew to five points.

More: RFK Jr. appears to draw more of these key voters away from Donald Trump than Joe Biden

Trump attacked RFK in a series of posts on his Truth Social account about a week after the poll was released, calling him a Democrat "plant."

“A Vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE, that could swing either way, but would only swing against the Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him," Trump wrote in a post.

More: Donald Trump is now blasting RFK Jr. for taking support from him

RFK's campaign has pledged to get “Bobby on the ballot” in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in time for the general election on Nov. 5, but doing so without support from the Democrat or Republican party is not easy.

The campaign says it has collected enough signatures for ballot access in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, and Iowa. The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is officially on the ballot in Utah and Michigan.

During the event Wednesday, RFK claimed his campaign has also already received enough signatures to gain ballot access in New York, but that it was continuing to collect them.

David Jackson and The Palm Beach Post contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: RFK Jr. makes New York announcement as Trump attacks continue