(NewsNation) — The Robert F. Kennedy Jr. independent presidential campaign has fired staffer Rita Palma, who gained headlines after a video was publicized of a presentation she gave to supporters in which she said a key priority was to “block Biden from winning the presidency.”
“Whether you support Bobby or Trump, we all oppose Biden. And my thoughts are that, you know, that’s the No. 1 priority in the country,” she said in the video.
Kennedy campaign manager Amaryllis Fox posted late Wednesday night: “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.”
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In the video, Palma described President Joe Biden as the “mutual enemy” of voters for former President Donald Trump as well as Kennedy.
She also said she had campaigned for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and said he had lost because of “the vaccines.”
While she introduced herself as the Kennedy campaign’s New York state director, the campaign said that was not accurate.
“Rita Palma is a ballot access consultant responsible for scheduling volunteer shifts for our upcoming signature collection drive in the Empire State. She is not involved in electoral strategy, nationally or in New York,” it said. “This was not a campaign event. Palma was speaking as a private citizen and her statements in no way reflect the strategy of the Kennedy campaign, which is to win the White House with votes from former Trump and Biden supporters alike.”
For her part, Palma confirmed to NewsNation Friday she is no longer with the campaign.
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“We parted ways. No regrets,” she said.
When asked if she regretted making the statements in question, she responded, “Regret is unhealthy.”
In a prepared statement, she said, “My time with Team Kennedy has been one of the best political adventures of my life filled with some of the finest people I’ve encountered, and I have encountered many. I hold no ill will and look forward to the next seven months of watching Bobby shine.”
Kennedy’s campaign did not respond to NewsNation’s request for additional comments.
