RFK Jr. has suspended his presidential campaign and endorses Donald Trump before appearing with Trump at his rally

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped his independent presidential campaign for president on Friday, and also endorsed Donald Trump.

Phoenix (AP) -The late Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump on Friday in a last-minute shift in the race which could provide the former president with some boost from Kennedy’s loyalists.

After a few hours, Kennedy joined Trump onstage at an Arizona rally, at which the crowd erupted in “Bobby!” cheers.

Kennedy stated that his own polls have shown that his participation in the race could hurt Trump as well as help Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, even though recent polls do not provide any evidence that Kennedy is having a significant influence on the support of any of the major party candidates.

Kennedy mentioned freedom of speech, the conflict within Ukraine as well as “a war on our children” as reasons he’d like to get his name off the ballots in states that have battleground states.

“These are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” Kennedy stated at the event in Phoenix.

But he also made it clear that he was not officially endorsing his candidacy and that supporters can remain behind his candidacy throughout the states in which they’re unlikely to influence the result. Kennedy made moves to end his candidacy in at most two states this month, Arizona in addition to Pennsylvania, however, officials from the election contests in Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin declared it was too late to remove his name from the ballot should he want to do that.

Kennedy stated that his actions were a result of conversations with Trump during the last few weeks. Kennedy described their partnership in the context of “a unity party,” which will “allow us to disagree publicly and privately and seriously.” Kennedy suggested that Trump gave him an offer to work should it was his turn to return in his White House, but neither Kennedy or Trump provided details.

Kennedy’s running partner, Nicole Shanahan, this week was ruminating that Kennedy might join the Trump cabinet as the secretary for his Department of Health and Human Services.

The announcement came after days of speculation and came with a plethora of confusion and miscommunication from Kennedy’s allies and aides as a fitting cap to an edgy campaign.

Just prior to speaking in Phoenix the campaign of his opponent had stated in an Pennsylvania court filing that he was supporting Trump as the presidency. A spokesperson for Kennedy stated that the court document was erroneous as the attorney who drafted it insisted that he’d amend the mistake. Kennedy appeared on the stage just a few moments later, vented his displeasures regarding his fellow members of the Democratic Party, the news media and other institutions of the political world, and praised Trump. He spoke for more than 20 minutes, before declaring explicit that he was supporting Trump.

Kennedy was later seen with Trump at a stage during the rally hosted by Turning Point Action in Glendale in which Trump’s campaign hinted that it would be attended with “a special guest.”

Kennedy was greeted with cheers of thunder as he took the stage for the Foo Fighters and fireworks following his introduction to the world by Trump to be “a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values that we all share.”

“We are both in this to do what’s right for the country,” Trump declared, before praising Kennedy as a person who “raised critical issues that have been too long ignored in this country.”

With Kennedy sitting nearby, Trump invoked his slain father and uncle, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, telling the crowd “that they are looking down right now and they are very, very proud.”

If the election is successful the president will create a new commission independent of the president on assassination efforts which will release all the remaining documents relating to John Kennedy. Kennedy’s assassination.

He also reiterated his promise to create a panelthat is “working with Bobby” -to look into the increase the prevalence of health issues as well as children’s illnesses, including autism, autoimmune disorders as well as obesity and infertility.

One year ago, many would have considered it unimaginable that a member of the most storied family of Democratic politics would be working together with Trump to keep the Democrat from Trump’s White House. Even in recent times, Kennedy has accused Trump of sinning against his supporters and Trump has attacked Kennedy in the past as “the most radical left candidate in the race.”

Five Kennedy’s relatives released a statement on Friday saying that the support he has for Trump “a sad ending to a sad story” and reiterated that they support Harris.

“Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear,” reads the statement. is what his sibling Kerry Kennedy posted on the X.

Kennedy Jr. acknowledged his decision to support Trump has caused conflict with his family. Kennedy Jr. is the husband of actor Cheryl Hines, who wrote on X that she sincerely appreciates his decision to pull out of politics, but did not mention concerns about the Trump endorsement.

“This decision is agonizing for me because of the difficulties it causes my wife and my children and my friends,” Kennedy stated. “But I have the certainty that this is what I’m meant to do. And that certainty gives me internal peace, even in storms.”

In the form of a statement, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon made contact with Kennedy’s supporters, who find themselves “tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward” and added Harris was looking to win their support. Harris was determined to win their trust and support.

On Kennedy’s Phoenix event the 38 year old Casey Westerman said she trusted Kennedy’s judgement and had intended to vote on his behalf, however she said she would be a supporter of Trump should Kennedy supported Trump.

“My decision would really be based on who he thinks is best suited to run this country,” said Westerman wearing the “Kennedy 2024” trucker hat and was a supporter of Trump in the past two presidential elections.

Kennedy was first a candidate in the presidential race in 2024 an Democrat however he resigned from the party in late fall to contest the race in the independent race. Kennedy built a remarkable base for a third-party campaign which was helped by anti-establishment supporters and vaccination skeptics who have embraced his anti-vaccine efforts following the COVID-19 pandemic. But he’s since been confronted with financial strains and mounting legal issues.

At Trump’s recent event at Las Vegas, Alida Roberts 49, who is Kennedy’s wife stated that Kennedy’s endorsement for Trump said a lot about the situation of the Democratic Party.

“It says that he doesn’t trust what’s going on, that it’s not the party he grew up in,” Roberts declared.

Roberts who has voted twice for Trump stated that she was thrilled and relieved over the endorsement, as she had experienced “teeter-tottering” between the two candidates.

Latest polls have Kennedy’s popularity in the mid-single-digits and it’s unclear whether Kennedy could even win in the general election.

There’s evidence to suggest that Kennedy’s presence in the race will be detrimental to Trump greater than Harris. According to an AP-NORC survey, Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to have a positive perception of Kennedy. People with an overall positive view of Kennedy were more likely to be favourable about Trump (52 percent) over Harris (37 percent).

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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 helped in this report.

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