Joe Biden and Donald Trump are so unpopular that former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura believes he could win the White House if he ran for president this year.
“If I had ballot access in all 50 states and I were allowed to debate, I could beat these two major party candidates,” Ventura told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday evening.
Ventura’s comments came as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign announced that he recently qualified for the Michigan ballot, a key swing state where Democrats worry Kennedy could siphon votes from President Biden. The former Minnesota governor told Burnett he met with Kennedy for two hours to discuss whether he should be the independent candidate’s running mate.
Kennedy ultimately picked attorney Nicole Shanahan as his running mate.
“I have all the admiration in the world for him,” Ventura said of Kennedy. “He has every right to run. And certainly he’s probably going to get a lot of votes.”
During his CNN interview, Ventura pushed back against the notion that third parties are effectively spoilers during presidential elections. The Natural Law Party nominated Kennedy in Michigan.
“Third parties are not spoilers,” Ventura said. “When you go to vote and do your civic duty, you vote for the candidate or the person you most want to be the president of the United States irregardless of their party.”
He added that voting third party “makes you a correct citizen.”
