Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent presidential campaign and threw his support behind GOP nominee Donald Trump on Friday, saying in remarks in Phoenix that he was endorsing the former president because he saw no viable path to the White House.
“In my heart, I no longer believe that I have a realistic path to electoral victory,” Kennedy said. “I cannot in good conscience ask my staff and volunteers to keep working their long hours or ask my donors to keep giving when I cannot honestly tell them that I have a real path to the White House.”
Kennedy said three issues convinced him to leave the Democratic Party and “to throw my support to President Trump”: free speech, the war in Ukraine and what he called the “war on our children.”
“My joining the Trump campaign will be a difficult sacrifice for my wife and children, but worthwhile if there’s even a small chance of saving these kids,” he said. He said processed foods, chemicals and obesity were destroying the health of children in the U.S.
Kennedy later appeared at a rally with Trump in Glendale, Arizona. Trump said Kennedy would “have a huge influence on this campaign.”
The son of Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, RFK Jr.’s announcement was met with condemnation by other members of the storied political family. His sister Kerry Kennedy said in a statement on behalf of herself and four other family members that his decision to endorse Trump was “a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear” and “a sad ending to a sad story.”
His wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, thanked volunteers for their work on the campaign, saying they “accomplished feats that were said to be impossible.”
But Kennedy acknowledged Friday that his wife wasn’t pleased with his decision. “I am so grateful to my amazing wife Cheryl for her unconditional love, as I made a political decision with which she is very uncomfortable. I wish this also for the country — love and unity even in the face of disagreement. We will need that in coming times,” Kennedy tweeted.
Kennedy also said he wasn’t “terminating” his campaign, merely suspending it, and he would remain on the ballot in many noncompetitive 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 the process,” he said, adding that people in red states and blue states could vote for him “without harming or helping President Trump or Vice President Harris.”
And he held out the distant possibility that if neither Trump nor Harris were able to win 270 electoral votes, tying 269 to 269, “I could conceivably still end up in the White House in a contingent election.”
At his Glendale rally, Trump vowed, if elected, to establish an independent presidential commission on assassination attempts that would be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents related to JFK’s assassination. He also said that he’d establish a panel to investigate chronic health problems and childhood diseases.
“All who supported Bobby’s campaign, I very simply ask you join us in building this coalition — it’s a beautiful coalition — in defense of liberty and safety, prosperity and peace,” Trump said.