Trump praises RFK Jr as 'common sense guy,' as GOP reportedly strategizes the Kennedy threat against Biden

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Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Dana Perino discuss Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s campaign on 'The Story.'

The GOP is reportedly viewing Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a strategic threat against President Biden in the early stages of the nominating contest. 

During a brief appearance on "The Howie Carr Show" Monday, former President Trump himself gave a somewhat positive nod toward Kennedy. 

"Just hang in," Trump advised Kennedy. "He’s been very nice to me, I’ve actually had a very nice relationship with him over the years. He’s a very smart guy, and a good guy."

"He’s a common sense guy and so am I. So, whether you’re conservative or liberal, common sense is common sense," Trump said of his potential rival. "A lot of what I run on is common sense. He’s doing really well, I saw a poll, he’s at 22. That’s pretty good! That’s pretty good, doing very well." 

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits "The Faulkner Focus" at Fox News Channel Studios on June 2, 2023, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

A nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy Jr. launched his 2024 presidential campaign as a Democrat in April from Boston. 

Initially considered a long-shot challenge to Biden – and broadly dismissed by the Democratic Party for what they deem conspiratorial views on vaccines and other issues -- Kennedy was polling in the double digits in mid-June, prompting reconsideration on his viability in the 2024 Democratic primary.  

"The more chatter about Kennedy is just bad for Biden," Brian Seitchik, a Republican operative who previously worked on Trump's campaign but is no longer supporting him, told The Hill. "There’s an alternative out there with a serious name." 

Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. marches up 5th Avenue in Midtown during the Israel Parade on June 4, 2023, in New York City. Speculation is swirling on whether he will run as an independent in 2024. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

"Certainly, Trump understands how to get folks to chase the rabbit around the track," Seitchik told The Hill. "Any attention for Kennedy is good for Republicans."  

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Roger Stone, a longtime GOP operative whom Trump pardoned after being convicted in 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, remarked on a podcast in April of this year that "incumbent presidents who run for re-election but who are challenged in the primaries by a significant challenger, even though they survive, in almost every case, they are defeated." Stone cited what happened to Jimmy Carter when Ted Kennedy challenged him for the 1980 nomination. 

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaks at the SiriusXM Town Hall on June 5, 2023, in Philadelphia. Kennedy is challenging President Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2024. (Lisa Lake/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

"I think you're going to see the same thing here. I think it'll be very rough within the current architecture of the Democratic Party for Robert Kennedy to beat Joe Biden. If I were a Democrat, I'd certainly vote for him. If I had any money, I'd send him a contribution, but I don't," Stone said in April. 

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"I think he is a great American. He's a man of enormous courage," Stone added of Kennedy. "He's taken a lot of crap from the American political establishment for his outspoken and I think effective views. And I think it will help in the end soften Joe Biden up for his defeat by Donald Trump in the general election."