Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has fired one of its campaign officials who recently said her “number one priority” is defeating President Joe Biden, and that Kennedy’s campaign was the “best strategic opportunity to block Biden” from getting reelected over Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the Kennedy camp quietly announced that Rita Palma had been removed from their roster.
“We terminated her contract for misrepresentation immediately upon seeing the longer video in which she gave an inaccurate job title and described a conversation that did not happen,” Kennedy Campaign Director Amaryllis Fox wrote on X.
On April 5, Palma, presenting herself as a New York state director for the Kennedy campaign, told a group of Republican voters that “the only way that Trump can even [have a] remote possibility of taking New York is if Bobby is on the ballot. If it’s Trump vs. Biden, Biden wins. Biden wins six days, seven days a week. With Bobby in the mix, anything can happen.”
“Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden,” Palma said. “And my thoughts are that’s the number one priority in the country. I’m going to vote for Bobby. However, if I wake up Nov. 6, and Trump wins, I’m not going to be overly upset. But if Biden wins, we’re all going to be terribly upset because he’s ruining America. And the people that control him are ruining our country.”
On Monday, Fox tried to distance Kennedy from Palma’s comments, and rebuked her claim of being a state director for the campaign — but did not clarify whether or not she remained employed with the campaign.
“Rita Palma was hired a couple of weeks ago as a ballot access consultant, responsible for scheduling volunteer shifts during our upcoming signature collection drive in the Empire State. She has no involvement in — or access to — electoral strategy, nationally or in New York,” Fox wrote, adding that “the video circulating was not taken at a campaign event. Palma was speaking as a private citizen and her statements in no way reflect campaign strategy.”
The official announcement of Palma’s ouster from the campaign comes the day after CNN reported on social media posts revealing that Palma attended “Stop the Steal” rallies in the aftermath of the 2020 election, and was present at a pro-Trump rally near the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The posts also revealed that Palma had heavily promoted conspiracy theories regarding false claims of election rigging by President Biden, and often referred to Trump as her “favorite president.”
While the Kennedy campaign has fired Palma, it’s unclear to what extent they were aware of her political leanings before hiring her. According to Palma, she explicitly told Kennedy’s campaign that she would only join them if she was “allowed to preach” that “we want to get rid of Biden in New York state.”
