Democrat-turned-independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump on Friday, a major development that could shift momentum in the increasingly tight fight for the White House.
During a speech in Phoenix, Kennedy said he was “suspending” his campaign and seeking to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states while keeping his name on the ballot in “blue” and “red” states.
“My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me without harming our helping President Trump or Vice President Harris,” he said. “In Red states, the same will apply. … But in about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler, I’m going to remove my name, and I’ve already started that process and urge voters not to vote for me.”
“Now, [I am throwing] my support to President Trump.”
Kennedy endorsed Trump shortly before the Republican nominee is set to give a speech just miles away in Glendale, Arizona. The Trump campaign announced on Thursday that the former president will be joined by a “special guest” at his rally on Friday.
The independent candidate filed paperwork to withdraw his name from the Arizona ballot on Thursday. His campaign also requested to be removed from the ballot in Pennsylvania, another key swing state, on Friday.
Kennedy slammed the Democratic Party, saying he believes he would’ve won the Democratic primary and the election “in an honest system.” He added that he is “alarmed” by the Democrats’ censorship, accusing the party of “preventing” him from gaining ballot access.
“In the name of saving democracy, the Democratic Party set itself to dismantling it,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s endorsement of Trump came after the independent candidate’s running mate Nicole Shanahan said earlier this week that their campaign was trying to decide between staying in the race, which would potentially help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, or “join[ing] forces with Donald Trump.”
Kennedy suffered a recent drop in the polls, dipping to 5% nationally, after spending much of the past year hovering around 10%, according to the RealClearPolitics average. The endorsement could shake up the race in multiple ways. Trump has performed better against Harris in polls that don’t include Kennedy, and Kennedy’s supporters will likely be much more open to backing Trump in the 2024 race. Trump also said he would consider tapping Kennedy for a role in his administration.
As reports earlier this week indicated Kennedy would be backing Trump, the former president said he “would be honored” by Kennedy’s endorsement.
“So I’ve known him for a long time. As you know, he is a little different kind of a guy. Very smart guy and a very good person. If he endorsed me, I would be honored by it,” Trump said. “He really has his heart in the right place. He is a respected person. Women love some of his policies and I guess some people don’t like some of his policies.”
Trump added that he believes Democrats forced Kennedy out of the party’s primary because “there was a good chance” that he would have beaten President Joe Biden in the primary.
Earlier this year, Trump ripped Kennedy as a “Democrat plant,” arguing the independent candidate is “totally Anti-Gun, an Extreme Environmentalist who makes the Green New Scammers look Conservative, a Big Time Taxer and Open Border Advocate, and Anti-Military/Vet[.]”
Kennedy responded to Trump’s attack, calling it “a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate.” In the same post, Kennedy also blasted Trump’s policies during his time in the White House. Kennedy has been especially critical of Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, which ramped up production of a COVID vaccine during the pandemic.
“He promised to end the Ukraine war and then colluded with Speaker Johnson and President Biden to fund it,” Kennedy wrote. “He let Big Pharma and his corrupt bureaucrats run roughshod over him as President. He promised to cut the deficit and ran up the biggest debt in history. He promised to run the government like a business and then closed down our businesses. He promised to drain the swamp and then filled his administration with swamp creatures. He promised to protect our rights and then torpedoed the Constitution.”
The new alliance between Trump and Kennedy comes one day after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, where Harris was formally crowned as the party’s nominee. In a two-way race, Harris holds a 1.5-point lead over Trump in the latest RealClearPolitics average of national polling.
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