Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his 2024 presidential campaign, and according to a court filing in Pennsylvania on Friday will throw his weight behind former President Donald Trump.
Multiple news outlets reported on Wednesday that independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was planning to drop out of the race and endorse Trump. He clarified at an event in Arizona on Friday that he is not terminating his campaign, only suspending it, and that his name will remain on the ballot in non-battleground states. He said that if enough people still vote for him and Trump and Kamala Harris tie in the Electoral College, he could still wind up in the White House.
“In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election,” Kennedy claimed, citing a vast Democratic conspiracy with the media to stifle his ability to communicate his vision for America to the public. While RFK Jr. blames the “system” from keeping him out of the White House, it could also be due to a truly bizarre, scandal-laden campaign in which he push a host of conspiracy theories, brushed off allegations of sexual assault, and admitted to dumping a dead bear in Central Park.
Kennedy’s siblings bashed his decision to endorse Trump in a statement on Friday. “We believe in Harris and Walz,” they wrote. “Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
Trump will speak in Arizona later on Friday, and has teased a special guest.
Trump said Tuesday that he would “certainly” consider Kennedy for a role in his administration. “He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a very long time,” Trump told CNN.
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told conservative radio host Glenn Beck that it would be a good idea to have Kennedy on board. “I loved the idea, love the idea of giving him some sort of role in some sort of major three-letter entity or whatever it may be and let him blow it up,” he said.
Kennedy had a colorful run, from admitting to leaving a dead bear cub in Central Park to saying doctors found a dead, parasitic worm in his brain. On a more serious note, he was accused of sexual assault, to which he responded: “I’m not a church boy… I had a very, very rambunctious youth.”
The Washington Post previously reported that Kennedy had spoken to Trump about taking a job in his administration working on health and medical issues. Kennedy is known for being a vaccine conspiracy theoirst.
“All I will say to you is I am willing to talk to anybody from either political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy told the Post.
Kennedy apparently begged both of his opponents for a job. According to the Post, he tried to schedule a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris to talk about working for her as well.
Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, denied this. She said they were “definitely not in talks with Harris.” She also said they “have never brought up a cabinet position with Harris.” Then, she said: “we have offered to talk to everybody.”
The Kennedy campaign had been weighing their options; Shanahan said recently that the campaign was considering whether they should drop out or “join forces” with former President Donald Trump.
She said on the Impact Theory podcast that they could “walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and you know, we walk away from that and explain to our base why we’re making this decision,” adding: “Not an easy decision.”
In July, the campaign spent more than it raised, and nearly half of the money that it raised came from Shanahan. Kennedy’s campaign disclosed refunding $925,000 to Shanahan.
