Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the potential to play spoiler in the presidential election in November, and supporters of former President Donald Trump are insisting the third-party candidate will hurt President Joe Biden‘s chances.

After Kennedy announced his running mate, attorney Nicole Shanahan, the former president and his supporters claimed that the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket would take more Democratic votes than Republican votes, in what is expected to be a close race between Biden and Trump.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who has been floated as a possible running mate for Trump, said on Newsmax’s Eric Bolling The Balance on Wednesday night that he has “no doubt” that a third party candidate — like Kennedy — would “bleed votes” away from Democrats.

“Well, here’s what I know for sure, we need four more years of Donald Trump, and the way we get there is very important. What we do realize is having that third party candidate on the ballot, no matter the choice for vice president, is gonna bleed votes from the Democrats,” Scott said.

“That’s why they are scurrying around running ads in Detroit trying to keep Black voters in Detroit loyal to the Democrat Party. It’s just not working,” he added.

Republican strategist Karl Rove also believes Kennedy could pose a problem for Biden’s reelection effort, which he said while speaking on Fox News’s America Reports on Wednesday. Rove agreed the Biden campaign “should worry” and pointed out that a strong third-party showing by Kennedy could be a problem by citing 2016 and 2020 election data.

“In 2016, third-party candidates got 5.8% of the vote. That’s one out of every 17 voters cast a ballot for a third-party candidate. And in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, the Green Party candidate got more votes than Hillary Clinton lost those states by,” Rove said. “In 2020, 1.9%, one out of every 50 voters voted for a third party candidate. And in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, the libertarian candidate got more votes than Donald Trump lost those states by.”

“So even if they get a very small fraction of the vote, if it’s in the right places, it can cause enormous harm,” Rove said.

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is a chief Trump ally, argued on Fox News’s Hannity on Wednesday that if Kennedy makes the ballot, he would take votes away from Biden and give Trump a victory.

“If he does make it on the ballot … it should take votes away from the Democrats, and this should be a good development, not only for President Trump, but I believe for this country. Because what we need this November is a decisive moral mandate, a landslide of Reagan 1980, 1984 proportions, and I think we have an opportunity to do it,” Ramaswamy said.

“And if RFK being in this race helps that, you know what, I think that could be a good thing for this country, and I’m against any Democratic efforts to try to remove him or keep him off the ballot — as they will try to do,” he added.

Trump slammed Kennedy as the “most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far” and took aim at his running mate in a post on Truth Social early Wednesday. He also said that Kennedy is Biden’s opponent, not his own, and added that he loves Kennedy being in the race.

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“RFK Jr. is the most Radical Left Candidate in the race, by far. He’s a big fan of the Green New Scam, and other economy killing disasters. I guess this would mean he is going to be taking votes from Crooked Joe Biden, which would be a great service to America. His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, is even more “Liberal” than him, if that’s possible. Kennedy is a Radical Left Democrat, and always will be!!! It’s great for MAGA, but the Communists will make it very hard for him to get on the Ballot. Expect him, and her, to be indicted any day now, probably for Environmental Fraud! He is Crooked Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, not mine. I love that he is running!” Trump said.

Kennedy’s effect on the Biden versus Trump matchup has been debated by analysts, but both Republicans and Democrats are trying to claim he will hurt the other party’s nominee.