Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends campaign, endorses Trump

Independent White House candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Republican nominee Donald Trump on stage at a rally in Arizona after suspending his campaign and endorsing the former president.

Kennedy, 70, a lifelong Democrat and member of the Kennedy political dynasty, stated that the same principles that led him to leave the Democratic Party now compel him “to throw my support to President Trump.” At a press conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday, he announced plans to remove his name from the ballot in ten battleground states.

Trump praised Kennedy as “phenomenal” and “brilliant” while welcoming him on stage at the rally in Glendale. Democratic rival Kamala Harris commented that she would work to “earn” the support of Kennedy’s followers.

With the November election approaching, Kennedy’s polling numbers have dropped significantly from earlier double-digit highs as his campaign’s funding and national media coverage diminished.

Kennedy, the son of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, comes from one of the most prominent families in Democratic politics. Before welcoming Kennedy to the stage, Trump promised that, if elected, he would release all remaining documents related to the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy.

Kennedy’s decision to endorse a Republican for the White House has sparked outrage among his relatives, who previously criticized his use of the family name in a Super Bowl ad in February. His sister, Kerry Kennedy, described his support for Trump as a “betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

“This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes my wife, my children, and my friends,” Kennedy said on Friday. “But I have the certainty that this is what I’m meant to do. And that certainty gives me internal peace, even in storms.”

Kennedy is married to Cheryl Hines, star of HBO’s comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” She expressed her respect for her husband’s decision to suspend his campaign in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, but did not comment on his endorsement of Trump.

Kennedy told reporters on Friday that Trump’s promise to end the war in Ukraine through negotiations with Russia “alone would justify my support for his campaign.” He acknowledged that there are still many issues on which they have “very serious differences,” but emphasized alignment on other key issues.

He announced his intention to remove his name from ballots in ten states where his presence could potentially “spoil” Trump’s efforts. He has already withdrawn from the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania. However, election officials have indicated that it is too late for him to withdraw from swing states like Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin.

Kennedy launched his campaign in April 2023 “as a Democrat, the party of my father and uncle… the champions of the Constitution.” However, he left the party, claiming it had become “the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big money.”

He blamed his decision to suspend his campaign on “media control” and the Democratic Party’s efforts to obstruct his run, adding, “In my heart, I no longer believe I have a realistic path to victory in the face of relentless and systematic censorship.”

Kennedy’s polling numbers had peaked at 14% – 16%, but have since dropped to single digits following Harris’s emergence as the Democratic nominee. At his press conference, he mentioned offering to collaborate with Harris on her bid for the White House.

Democratic officials appeared unfazed by his announcement. “Donald Trump isn’t earning an endorsement that’s going to help build support; he’s inheriting the baggage of a failed fringe candidate. Good riddance,” Democratic National Committee senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill stated.

Kennedy’s campaign became closely associated with the anti-vaccine movement, a stance he promoted through his leadership of the Children’s Health Defense organization, formerly the World Mercury Project. In recent weeks, Kennedy recounted how he once disposed of a dead bear cub hit by a car in New York’s Central Park as a joke in 2014.

It was also revealed earlier in his campaign that he had suffered from a brain parasite over a decade ago, which caused severe memory loss and brain fog. Rumors circulated in recent days that Kennedy had offered to endorse Trump to secure a role in a potential future administration.

Trump told CNN earlier this week he would “certainly be open” to Kennedy serving in his administration, while Donald Trump Jr. suggested Kennedy could “blow up” a federal department. Merrill Matthews, a resident scholar with the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation, told the BBC that Kennedy’s decision highlights the rigidity of the two-party system in the U.S. and “how difficult it is to get new ideas and fresh people into the process.”