RFK Jr. Says Guilty Verdict May Help Trump’s Election Prospects

AUSTIN,
TEXAS
—
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
said
his
presidential
election
opponent
Donald
Trump’s
guilty
verdict
Thursday
may
end
up
boosting
Trump’s
prospects
in
November.

“My
belief
is
that
it
will
end
up
helping
President
Trump
among
a
large
part
of
the
American
public,”
Kennedy
said
on
stage
at
Consensus
2024
in
Austin,
Texas,
hours
after
the
news
broke.

Kennedy,
breaking
from
his
family’s
Democratic
Party
roots,
is
running
as
an
independent,
facing
off
against
Trump,
the
presumptive
Republican
nominee,
and
President
Joe
Biden.
He
said
that
his
team’s
internal
research
shows
he’d
beat
either
Trump
or
Biden
in
a
head-to-head
contest
in
the
presidential
election
but
noted
that
if
he
dropped
out
of
the
race,
more
than
half
of
his
supporters
would
instead
vote
for
Trump.

“I’m
not
a
fan
of
Trump’s,”
Kennedy
said.
“The
division
in
our
country
is
largely
down
to
him
and
Biden,
and
it’s
not
a
good
thing
for
our
country.”

He
delighted
the
standing-room-only
crowd
–
filled
with
crypto
enthusiasts
–
with
comments
in
support
of
the
technology.

“Transactional
freedom
is
absolutely
as
important
as
freedom
of
expression,”
he
said.

Crypto
has
in
recent
weeks
become
more
prominent
on
the
campaign
trail.
Trump
has
turned
from
past
crypto
skepticism
to
open
support,
including
soliciting
campaign
donations
denominated
in
crypto.
While
Biden
has
not
expressed
support,
one-third
of
Democrats
in
the
U.S.
House
just
joined
with
Republicans
to
pass
a
crypto
bill.
Also,
under
the
watch
of
Biden’s
Democratic
administration,
the
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
just
took
a
big
step
toward
approving
exchange-traded
funds
designed
to
hold
Ethereum’s
ether

(ETH)
–
something
that
seemed
unlikely
just
weeks
ago.

Before
appearing
on
stage,
Kennedy

spoke
to
reporters
at
the
Austin
Convention
Center.
He
was
asked
about
Trump’s
new
pro-crypto
stance.

“I’m
happy
about
that,”
Kennedy
said.
“I
think
it’s
a
good
thing
for
our
country.
Commitment
to
crypto
is
a
commitment
to
freedom
and
transparency.
I’m
not
going
to
question
if
it
was
a
political
decision.
I’m
happy
he
did
it,
and
I
hope
President
Biden
does,
too.”

He
also
discussed
his
own
feelings
about
crypto.

“We
need
to
make
sure
America
remains
the
hub
of
blockchain
technology,”
he
said.
“I’m
going
to
make
sure
cryptocurrency
is
regulated
in
a
way
that
protects
the
consumer
from
deceptive
schemes.”