RFK Jr. announces he’s suspending his presidential bid, endorsing former President Trump
UPDATE (1:00 PM): Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced that he's suspending his Independent presidential bid and is backing former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy said his internal polls had showed that his presence in the race would hurt Trump and help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
He cited free speech, the war in Ukraine and "a war on our children" as among the reasons to try to remove his name from the ballot in 10 battleground states.
"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, it's with a sense of victory and not defeat that I'm suspending my campaign activities. Not only did we do the impossible by collecting a million signatures, we changed the national political conversation forever, chronic disease, free speech, government, corruption, breaking our addiction to war, move to the center of politics. I can say to all who have worked so hard. The last year and a half at you for a job well done."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
However, he made clear that he wasn't formally ending his bid and said his supporters could continue to back him in the majority of states where they are unlikely to sway the outcome.
Kennedy took steps to withdraw his candidacy in at least two states late this week, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
He said the move followed conversations with Trump over the past few weeks.
"A few weeks later, I met again with President Trump and his family members and closest advisers in Florida in a series of long, intense discussions, I was surprised to discover that we are aligned on many key issues in those meetings, he suggested that we join forces as a Unity Party. We talked about Abraham Lincoln's Team of Rivals. That arrangement would allow us to disagree publicly and privately and furiously if need be on issues over which we differ, while working together on the existential issues upon which we are in concordance. I was a ferocious critic of many of the policies during his first administration, and there are still issues and approaches upon which we continue to have very serious differences, but we are aligned with each other on other key issues."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy's presence on the campaign trail has been minimal in recent weeks. He hasn't hosted a public, campaign-sponsored event since early July. Kennedy's standing in public polling has slipped as well.
UPDATE (10:09 AM): Robert F. Kennedy is appearing in Phoenix to make an announcement late Friday morning.
According to NBC News, they anticipate he will suspend his campaign for President.
To watch the livestream of the announcement, see attached video.
(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has withdrawn from the Arizona ballot late Thursday, just a day before he and former President Donald Trump were set to appear miles apart in the Phoenix area.
According to his campaign, Kennedy is scheduled to speak Friday in Phoenix "about the present historical moment and his path forward."
Hours later, Trump will hold a rally in neighboring Glendale.
On Thursday, Trump's campaign made an announcement that he would be joined by "a special guest" at his Glendale event.
Representatives for Trump's campaign did not respond to messages about whether Kennedy would be the guest and the Kennedy campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment if he would be joining Trump.
