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Independent White House candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has appeared on stage with Republican candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona after dropping out of the race and endorsing the former US president.
Kennedy, 70, a lifelong Democrat and a scion of the Kennedy dynasty, said the principles that led him to leave the Democratic Party now compel him to “switch to President Trump.”
He said at a news conference Friday in Phoenix, Arizona, that he would seek to have his name removed from the ballot in 10 battleground states.
Before welcoming RFK Jr to the stage on Friday, Trump pledged that if elected he would release all remaining documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Trump praised Kennedy as “phenomenal” and “brilliant” at a subsequent rally in Glendale, and Democratic rival Kamala Harris said she would work to “win over” Kennedy’s voters.
As the November election approached, Kennedy’s poll numbers slipped from high double digits as funding and national coverage declined.
He is the son of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, and comes from the most famous family in Democratic politics.
Mr. Kennedy’s decision to support a Republican for the White House angered his relatives, who condemned him for invoking the family name in a Super Bowl ad in February.
Kennedy’s sister, Kerry Kennedy, said Kennedy’s support for Trump was “a betrayal of our father and the values our family held most dear. This is a sad end to a sad story.”
“This decision pains me greatly because it has caused so much hardship for my wife, children and friends,” Mr Kennedy said on Friday.
“But I am certain that this is what I am meant to do. This certainty gives me inner peace, even in the midst of a storm.”
His wife, Cheryl Hines, star of the HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that she deeply respects her husband’s decision to suspend his campaign. She did not comment on her husband’s support for Trump.
Kennedy told reporters on Friday that Trump’s insistence that the war in Ukraine can be ended through negotiations with Russia “is enough in itself to justify my support for his candidacy.”
“We still have serious differences on many issues and approaches. But we are united on other key issues.”
He said he would withdraw from 10 states because his presence would “undermine” Trump’s efforts. He has already withdrawn from two battleground states, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
But election officials told The Associated Press that it was too late for him to withdraw from battleground states such as Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
Kennedy said he had launched his campaign in April 2023 “as a Democrat, the party of my father, the party of my uncle … and a defender of the Constitution.”
But he left because “it has become the party of war, censorship, corruption, Big Pharma, Big Tech and Big Money.”
He blamed his decision to suspend his campaign on “media control” and efforts by his former party to block his candidacy, adding: “In the face of relentless and systematic censorship, I no longer believe in my heart that I have a viable path to victory.”
Mr. Kennedy’s approval ratings have hovered around 14% to 16% in the polls at their peak. However, since Ms. Harris became the Democratic nominee, his approval ratings have fallen into the single digits.
He told a news conference he had offered to work with Ms. Harris to help her run for president.
Democrats did not seem concerned by his announcement.
“Instead of an endorsement that would help build support, Donald Trump inherited the baggage of a failed, fringe candidate. That’s great,” Mary Beth Cahill, a senior adviser to the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement.
Mr. Kennedy’s activities became synonymous with the anti-vaccine movement, as he often boasted about being the leader of Children’s Health Defense, formerly known as the World Mercury Project.
In recent weeks, Mr. Kennedy recounted how he jokingly dumped a bear cub in New York’s Central Park in 2014 after it was hit by a car.
Early in his campaign, it was revealed that he had suffered from a parasitic brain disease more than a decade earlier, which caused severe memory loss and brain fog.
His statement confirmed days of rumors that Kennedy was willing to support Trump to ensure he had a role in the next administration.
Trump told CNN earlier this week that he would “absolutely” like Kennedy to play a role, while Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said Kennedy would be suitable to “blow up” a federal department.
Merrill Matthews, resident scholar at the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation, told the BBC that Kennedy’s decision highlighted the two-party system in the United States and “how difficult it is to bring new ideas and new talent into the process.” (BBC News)
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