CNN Panel Laughs While Comparing RFK Jr. To a Cockroach: ‘Third Parties, They’re Like Cockroaches in the Kitchen’

MATTINGLY: “Axios reporting — we‘ve got some reporting as well — that ‘Biden‘s campaign and the DNC have a dedicated team of staffers and consultants to try and diminish Kennedy.’ Paul, does this show that they’re concerned? Are they on the ball? Is there — I look at poll after poll and I see the numbers and I‘d say probably about that time.”

BEGALA: “Absolutely. Third parties elected Donald Trump in 2016, about six to seven percent of Americans voted third-party. That third-party vote dropped to less than two, which is how Biden won. So, anything over two, Democrats are in trouble. Kennedy alone is getting 15 in some of these places. So yeah, my view is third parties, they’re like cockroaches in the kitchen, okay? It‘s not what they carry off that upsets you. It‘s what they fall into and foul up. Bobby Kennedy can fall into every swing state and foul it up for Joe Biden and throw the whole election to Donald Trump. So, I’m very happy as a Democrat that the Democrats are on this because it‘s a very real threat.”

HEYE: “Note to self, don‘t go to Paul Begala’s kitchen.”

(laughter)

MATTINGLY: “I was like, what — [inaudible] Alayna, the press secretary for the campaign says: ‘Mr. Kennedy plans to take votes from both President Biden and former President Trump.’ So far, the Trump campaign hasn‘t really seemed to devote a lot — said some things, but haven‘t really devoted resources to attacking him. When you talk to Trump advisers, how did they look right now at his role in the map?”

TREENE: “So, it’s interesting. I actually — so, when RFK Jr. Announced that he was switching and becoming an independent and that‘s how he was going to run, I think there was more concern then. They definitely recognized that he was a potential threat. And as Paul just laid out, so eloquently, a spoiler, like he could be a massive spoiler in —“

MATTINGLY: “Like, in the food, as a cockroach—“

(laughter)

TREENE: “Exactly. Spoiling the food, spoiling elections —

BEGALA: “Right in the Captain Crunch there!”

TREENE: “And it’s especially important, and I think he could be especially effective given its expected to be a close election, something that Donald Trump‘s team very much does expect this election to be. The other thing, though, that I will argue is, I think there‘s been some reporting out there they‘re not that concerned, that they think any kind of RFK spoiler would hurt Biden more than it would hurt Trump. I don’t necessarily think that that‘s how his team sees this. When I talk to them, they recognize that he‘s kind of a wildcard in some senses. And especially when it comes to the people who are really against the system. When I talk to Trump‘s team, people close to the former president, people like Steve Bannon say this, that they think that the people who are anti-vaccine, anti-establishment, have very strong positions on Ukraine, not wanting to give more money to Ukraine funding. Those are the type of people that do normally go for Donald Trump, but could potentially go for someone like RFK Jr. And that‘s where there is concern because I don‘t think it‘s as simple as saying he‘s only going to take votes away from Biden.”

MATTINGLY: “Yeah, because it’s not binary. Right? You can’t just look at him and say, well, he’s going to do this or he’s going to do that. It kind of cuts across lines.”