RFK Jr the kingmaker: Surprising way Kennedy could decide who will end up in the White House... as he gets his name on another state's ballot

As November's election draws nearer, the presence of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the ballot is causing worries for both major political candidates. 

Both the Biden and Trump campaign teams are paying close attention to how Kennedy is progressing, particularly after managing to secure his name onto another state's ballot - this time in California.

The Trump campaign fears he will draw votes away, essentially handing Biden a second term, as more Trump backers have switched to RFK than Biden leaners, according to NewsNation. 

The Golden State is the third state ballot Kennedy and running mate Nicole Shanahan have officially qualified for - the others being Utah and Michigan. 

California is the state with the most electoral college votes in the country. 

The pair have also managed get enough signatures to access the ballot access in seven other states, including New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska and Iowa but they haven't yet been validated by elections officials.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., running as an independent candidate, is now on the ballot in California - his third state along with Utah and Michigan

Despite polling around 8.5%, Kennedy's presence worries both major parties, with Trump and Biden strategists concerned about his potential impact

Kennedy is seen during a recent campaign rally along side his actress wife, Cheryl Hines

Kennedy had been running as a Democrat but last fall switched his ticket to run as an independent and is aiming to appear on state ballots right across the country in a bid to take on Biden and Trump arguing both are unfit to serve.

Although his campaign is aiming to pull together signatures from all 50 states before the deadline, experts have suggested that Kennedy would only need a handful of key battleground states in order to have potential impact to the result on election day.

A recent poll by The Hill suggests Kennedy has nearly 8.5 percent of the vote and is  far behind Trump was polling at just over 42 percent while Biden is close at 41 percent.

Depending on the poll, Trump is between one and four points ahead of Biden nationwide, including in most battleground states. 

But NewsNation is suggesting that with RFK would likely be taking away votes from Trump leaving Biden to come out in front with a two-point lead. 

Even with less than 10 percent of the vote, RFK Jr.'s very presence is irking Donald Trump who posted a rant on Truth Social last week

The outlet suggests that voters who may have been more likely to vote Trump will switch to Kennedy, more so than voters who were likely to vote Biden.

Third-party and independent candidates face long odds in a U.S. political system largely built around two major parties. 

Biden's campaign team is seeing RFK Jr.'s presence in the race as a threat and have put together team of full-time staffers dedicated to highlighting the contrast between the president and Kennedy. 

Kennedy, known for his anti-vaccine advocacy, has used podcasts such as The Joe Rogan Experience and social media in a bid to attract younger voters dissatisfied by the choice between Biden and Trump, who are 81 and 77 years old, respectively. 

Although Kennedy would not have enough draw to secure a presidential win, he could very well draw enough support to be a spoiler for either of the front-runners 

Even with less than 10 percent of the vote, RFK Jr.'s very presence is irking Donald Trump who posted a rant on Truth Social last week.  

Third-party and independent candidates face long odds in a U.S. political system largely built around two major parties.

'RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal who's been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected,' Trump wrote.

'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 added.

Kennedy soon fired back on X with his own interpretation: 'When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged.

'President Trump's rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate,' Kennedy tweeted.

Republican strategist Alex Conant said Trump's rant is a clear sign he is concerned about the Kennedy effect.

'You don't attack somebody you're not at all worried about,' Conant told The Hill.

'If you look at the sort of media RFK does, you look at his very populist message, his history of embracing conspiracy theories — there's a lot there to make Trump World nervous.

'Democrats and Republicans are both in a race to define Kennedy, because in a tight race, his supporters could be crucial', Conant said. 

In a radio interview last week, Trump said he believed Kennedy being in the race was detrimental to both him and Biden.

'They say he hurts Biden. I think I'm not sure that that's true. I think he probably hurts us both,' Trump said as he spoke with conservative John Fredericks. 'But he might hurt Biden a little bit more, you don't know.' 

Previously, when Trump believed Kennedy's presence likely hurt Biden's chances more, he was not critical of him.

Trump has released a recent video saying, 'If I were a Democrat, I´d vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden,' he has sometimes criticized Kennedy Jr. as being more 'radical left' than Biden. 

'Depending on what poll you look at, Kennedy poses problems for either one of them,' Republican strategist Doug Heye said.

'This is one of the reasons that trying to really try to accurately forecast 2024 is going to be very difficult, because it is going to come down to a handful of states, and that means a handful of voters. And what RFK means to either candidate in any of those states, I just don't think we know yet,' Heye added.

Democrats are more about how Kennedy might hurt Biden in various swing states. 

It brings back memories of 2016 when Green Party candidate Jill Stein won enough voters in swing states that arguably helped Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. 

In mid-April, a group of more than a dozen strong Kennedys delivered a high-profile public endorsement to incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden at a rally in Pennsylvania - explicitly rejecting RFK Jr.'s White House bid

Earlier this month, RFK acknowledged how even his closer family members, including his sister, Kerry Kennedy, are backing Biden.

 'Some of them don't like the fact that I'm running,' Kennedy said of his relatives.

But the move by the Biden campaign signals how seriously the president's team is taking the long-shot candidate using his last name's lingering Democratic magic to siphon support away from the incumbent.

Kerry Kennedy called Biden 'my hero,' saying - without mentioning of her brother - that the family wanted to 'make crystal clear' their support for reelecting Biden.

Biden, who keeps a bust of Robert F. Kennedy in the Oval Office, said the endorsements were 'an incredible honor.'