GOP tells Republicans not to support RFK Jr. because he's denied the validity of presidential elections

• RFK Jr. is now running for president as an independent, and Republicans view him as a threat.
• The RNC issued a memo listing 23 different reasons why Republicans shouldn't support him.
• The 23rd point: he denied the validity of two presidential elections.

Robert F. Kennedy is now running for president as an independent, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) is offering 23 different reasons why Republicans shouldn't support him.

Among those reasons: Kennedy's an election denier.

"He called the 2000 presidential election stolen 'under a cloud of dirty tricks' and said Republicans 'fix[ed]' the 2004 presidential election," reads a memo released by the RNC on Monday. Other reasons include Kennedy's support for basic aspects of the Democratic Party's agenda, including combatting climate change and supporting abortion rights.

It's true that Kennedy, who has a history of making unfounded and conspiratorial claims, has indeed questioned both the 2000 and 2004 elections.

"For the second election in a row, the president of the United States was selected not by the uncontested will of the people but under a cloud of dirty tricks," Kennedy wrote in 2006. "Given the scope of the GOP machinations, we simply cannot be certain that the right man now occupies the Oval Office."

Yet former President Donald Trump — and even the RNC itself — engaged in the most egregious and widespread denial of the validity of an election in recent American memory.

The RNC's involvement in promoting Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election is also well-documented. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and staffers at the committee helped organize slates of alternate, pro-Trump electors across several battleground states after the election had been certified by the Electoral College.

Some of those electors are now facing prosecution in their respective states.

The anti-RFK Jr. memo comes as Republicans seek to dampen the former Democrat's appeal among Republicans, fearing he could siphon votes away from the GOP nominee and make it more likely that President Joe Biden gets re-elected.

His skepticism of COVID vaccines, opposition to aiding Ukraine, and position on LGBTQ issues has appealed more to Republicans than Democrats so far. His candidacy has also drawn significant financial backing from the right.

Kennedy has acknowledged as much himself, recently saying he takes "more votes" from Trump than Biden.