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

WASHINGTON - Former President Donald Trump is now going all-out against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., amid polls that indicate the independent candidate would take more votes from Trump than incumbent President Joe Biden.

RFK Jr. is a Democrat 'Plant,' a Radical Left Liberal," Trump said in a three-part post on his Truth Social website late Friday.

"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 said.

Kennedy, who is seeking to get on the ballot in as many states as possible, has attacked Biden more than Trump. but told CNN this month that “there’s many things that President Trump has done that that are appalling."

Kennedy responded on the social media site X - formerly Twitter - by challenging Trump to a debate.“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” Kennedy said. “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.”

In his long post, Kennedy also hit Trump for military aid to Ukraine, support of “Big Pharma,” deficit spending, and threats to the U.S. Constitution during his administration.

Recent polls by Marist College and NBC News show Biden benefitting against Trump when other candidates are included on the ballot, including Kennedy and third-party aspirants Cornel West and Jill Stein.

"While Trump holds a 2-point edge over Biden head to head, Biden leads Trump by 2 points in a five-way ballot test including Kennedy and other third-party candidates," NBC News reported.

Biden and his allies also remain wary of Kennedy, who once considered opposing the president in the Democratic primaries. Several members of the Kennedy family have endorsed Biden, describing their relative as nothing more than a spoiler.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump is now attacking RFK Jr. for taking support