RFK Jr. suspends presidential bid and endorses Donald Trump before appearing with him at rally

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he is suspending his presidential campaign at a news conference in Phoenix, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Darryl Webb/AP)

PHOENIX – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump on Friday, a last-minute change in the race that could give the former president a modest boost from Kennedy supporters.

Hours later, Kennedy joined Trump on stage at a rally in Arizona, where the crowd erupted in “Bobby!” Luck.

Kennedy said his internal polls showed his presence in the race would hurt Trump and help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, although recent public polls don’t give a clear indication that it has a huge impact on support for either among the candidates of a major party.

Kennedy cited free speech, the war in Ukraine and “our children’s war” among the reasons he would try to get his name off the ballot in battleground states.

“These are the main reasons that convinced me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to offer my support to President Trump,” Kennedy said at his event in Phoenix.

However, he made it clear that he was not officially ending his bid and said his supporters could continue to back him in most states where he is unlikely to influence the outcome. Kennedy moved to withdraw his candidacy in at least two states later this week, Arizona and Pennsylvania, but election officials in the battleground states of Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin said it would be too late for him to withdraw. the name on the ballot, even if it were. he wants to do that.

Kennedy said his actions followed conversations with Trump in recent weeks. He presented their alliance as “a party of unity”, an arrangement that would “allow us to disagree publicly and privately and seriously”. Kennedy suggested that Trump had offered him a job if he returned to the White House, but neither he nor Trump provided details.

Kennedy’s colleague Nicole Shanahan floated the idea this week that Kennedy might join the Trump administration as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The announcement ended days of speculation and landed with heaps of confusion and contradiction from Kennedy’s aides and allies, an emblematic cap to a quixotic campaign.

Shortly before his speech in Phoenix, his campaign said in a Pennsylvania court filing that it would endorse Trump for president. However, a spokesman for Kennedy said the court filing was made in error and the lawyer who wrote it said he would correct it. Kennedy took the stage moments later, expressed his displeasure with the Democratic Party, the news media and the political establishment and praised Trump. He spoke for nearly 20 minutes before explicitly saying he supported Trump.

Kennedy later joined Trump on stage at a Turning Point Action rally in Glendale, where Trump’s campaign teased that he would be joined by “a special guest.”

Kennedy was greeted by thunderous applause as he took the stage to the Foo Fighters and a fireworks display after being introduced by Trump as “a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values ​​that we all share”.

“We’re both in this to do what’s right for the country,” Trump said, later praising Kennedy for “raising critical issues that have been ignored for too long in this country.”

With Kennedy nearby, Trump invoked his slain uncle and father, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, saying he knew “they’re looking down right now and they’re very, very proud.”

He said that if he wins this fall, he will establish a new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts that will release all remaining documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

And he repeated his commitment to start a group — the “Bobby thing” — to investigate the rise of chronic health conditions and childhood diseases, including autoimmune disorders, autism, obesity and infertility.

A year ago, some would have thought it unthinkable that a member of the most famous family in Democratic politics would work with Trump to keep a Democrat out of the White House. Even in recent months, Kennedy has accused Trump of betraying his supporters, while Trump has criticized Kennedy as “the most radical left-wing candidate in the race.”

Five of Kennedy’s family members issued a statement Friday calling his support for Trump “a sad end to a sad story” and reiterating their support for Harris.

“Our brother Bobby’s decision to support Trump today is a betrayal of the values ​​that our father and our family hold most dear,” read the statement, which his sister Kerry Kennedy posted on X.

Kennedy Jr. acknowledged that his decision to support Trump caused tension with his family. He is married to actor Cheryl Hines, who wrote on X that she deeply respects her husband’s decision to quit, but did not address his endorsement of Trump.

“This decision is painful for me because of the hardship it causes my wife, children and friends,” Kennedy said. “But I am certain that this is what I am meant to do. And this certainty gives me inner peace, even in storms.”

In a statement, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon reached out to Kennedy supporters who are “fed up with Donald Trump and are looking for a new path forward” and said Harris wants to win support.

At Kennedy’s Phoenix event, Casey Westerman, 38, said he trusted Kennedy’s judgment and had planned to vote for him, but would support Trump if Kennedy did.

“My decision would really be based on who he thinks is best suited to lead this country,” said Westerman, who wore a “Kennedy 2024” trucker hat and voted for Trump in the last two presidential elections .

Kennedy first entered the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat, but left the party last fall to run as an independent. He has built an unusually strong base for a third-party bid, fueled in part by anti-establishment voters and vaccine skeptics who have followed his anti-vaccine work since the COVID-19 pandemic. But since then he has faced strained campaign finances and mounting legal challenges.

At Trump’s Las Vegas event, Alida Roberts, 49, said Kennedy’s endorsement spoke volumes about the current state of the Democratic Party.

“He’s saying he doesn’t trust what’s going on, that it’s not the party he grew up with,” Roberts said.

Roberts, who voted for Trump twice, said she was relieved and delighted by the endorsement, as she had been “tossing and turning” between the two candidates.

Recent polls have put Kennedy’s support in the mid-single digits, and it’s unclear whether he’ll get even that in the general election.

There is some evidence that Kennedy staying in the race would hurt Trump more than Harris. According to a July AP-NORC poll, Republicans were much more likely than Democrats to have a favorable view of Kennedy. And those who had a positive impression of Kennedy were significantly more likely to also have a favorable view of Trump (52%) than Harris (37%).

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Ali Swenson in New York, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa., Meg Kinnard in Chicago and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.