Largely a political afterthought that borders on an electoral nuisance, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be well positioned to capitalize on President Joe Biden’s abysmal debate performance on Thursday.

Kennedy is not going to win the presidential election — in fact, he is not going to win a single electoral vote. But his mere presence on the ballot will upend the presidential election, as he will siphon votes from the two major party candidates.

Polling continually shows that Biden and former President Donald Trump are unpopular with voters. And as was the case when Trump ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016, interest in third-party candidates spikes in elections where both candidates are widely disliked.

For months, polling has shown Kennedy lingering in the high single digits and low- to mid-teens. And while this is a remarkable threshold for a candidate outside of the two major parties, it is still far below the amount of support necessary to win the electoral votes to become president.

But with Biden’s abysmal performance on the debate stage showcasing just how badly his mental faculties have declined, Kennedy may have an opportunity to cut into the president’s base of support among mainstream liberal Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who are wary of handing Biden another term.

Kennedy was not a party to the debate, as he failed to meet the qualification requirements in order to participate. But if a debate in September goes on as planned, he still has one more chance to appear onstage with Biden and Trump.

And given what happened Thursday, his insurgent candidacy might find some fresh support that could bolster his chances of making that September debate. Google Trends data during the debate indicate that interest in Kennedy skyrocketed during the Biden and Trump showdown.

Whether Kennedy is the ultimate beneficiary of Biden’s low moment remains to be seen, but he is better suited to gain from a Biden failure than a Trump failure because as a matter of policy and history, his natural constituency lies within the Democratic Party coalition.

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Kennedy has staked out very liberal positions on most issues, including abortion, economics, taxation, the environment, and racial issues. And while his anti-establishment views on foreign policy, free speech, and healthcare resonate with conservatives, the vast majority of his policy platform is more in line with mainstream Democratic Party politics.

With Biden struggling to string coherent sentences together, it would not be surprising to see a Kennedy surge in the coming weeks as voters increasingly look to alternative options in an election between two disliked candidates.