Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endorsed Republican presidential contender Donald Trump and canceled his unlikely bid for the presidency.
The decision is an astounding display of political acumen from a member of the most famous Democratic family in America. The revelation was officially announced on Friday by Kennedy in a meandering, accusing speech given in a Renaissance hotel ballroom in downtown Phoenix. Kennedy had teased the announcement earlier in the week with the candidate and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan.
adopting “nothing — no debates, no policies, no interviews, simply balloons,” Kennedy attacked the Democrats in his address, claiming that they were adopting illiberal tactics that “precipitated a palace coup” against President Joe Biden in order to establish Vice President Kamala Harris as the front-runner.
“How did the Democratic Party choose a candidate who has never given an interview?” Kennedy asked. “Over the course of a campaign where my poll numbers reached at times the high 20s, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN combined gave only two live interviews to me. Those networks ran continuous hit pieces [on me].”
“We inspired a massive independent political movement,” said Kennedy, thanking the 100,000 volunteers who collected signatures and canvassed for his campaign. “I will not let your accomplishments go to waste. .. I’m here today to describe the path forward. … In my heart I no longer feel we have a path to victory … Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states I would be handing votes over to the Democrats.”
In those states that are considered battlegrounds, Biden declared he would take his name off the ballot; however, he will still be present in other states. Kennedy declared he will back Trump, citing three issues: children’s health, the war in Ukraine, and free speech.
“The decision has been made to suspend my husband’s, Robert Kennedy Jr.’s campaign and I’d like to extend a sincere, deeply heartfelt thank you to every person who has worked so tirelessly and lovingly on his campaign,” tweeted Cheryl Hines, the actress from Curb Your Enthusiasm, Kennedy’s TV star wife. They have achieved things that were thought to be unachievable. Despite obstacles and lawsuits brought against them, they have amassed more signatures than any other candidate in history and have gained access to ballot boxes across the nation, all with the intention of preventing Bobby from being on the ballot and preventing anyone from ever having the chance to vote for him.
“I deeply respect the decision Bobby made to run on the principle of unity. Over the last year and a half, I have met some extraordinary people from all parties — Democrats, Republicans and independents. It’s been my experience that the vast majority of all parties are truly good people who want the best for our country and for each other. It has been an eye-opening, transformative and endearing journey,” Hines continued.
The decision is likely to add to the strain in the household after a tumultuous year in which the couple’s Los Angeles home was the scene of an armed trespasser’s arrest. Hines has already expressed her disdain for Trump and his policies in public.
Trump, whose lead in polls has significantly diminished since President Joe Biden left the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, has welcomed Kennedy’s support and has teased a cabinet position for Kennedy should he win the November election.
Kennedy is a politician that opposes the system and supports conspiracy theories as well as vaccinations. Her reputation as an election manipulator is well-established, and it would have been easy for her to deny Trump votes. In a January cover story for the Hollywood Reporter, Hines, 58, said, “My belief, from seeing what I see, is that Bobby is more likely to take votes from Trump than he is votes from Biden.”
By professing fidelity to the Trump campaign, Kennedy becomes one less headache for the beleaguered former president as he attempts to win a second term.
The announcement drew a response from five of Kennedy’s siblings, who in a statement posted to Instagram said, “We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and [running mate Tim] Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
With Kennedy’s defeat, a peculiar chapter in the history of presidential elections comes to a conclusion. Kennedy, 70, changed the course of his campaign to run as an independent after initially running as a Democrat.
Outcry against the campaign came from all corners of the political establishment, but none more so than from members of Kennedy’s own family, several of whom issued statements criticizing Biden, who was the front-runner at the time, and accusing him of trying to upset democracy.
However, sources close to the Kennedy campaign claim that the Republican National Committee refrained from challenging Kennedy’s bid to appear on ballots, despite the Democratic National Committee’s many and expensive legal objections. This ultimately caused Kennedy to shift her allegiance to Trump. Kennedy ultimately succeeded in his quest to be on 19 state ballots. It would not be sufficient.
Kennedy’s campaign was polling in the low double digits at its height. However, when Harris unexpectedly gained momentum and became the front-runner, Kennedy’s finances dried up due to multiple lawsuits and his approval rating fell to 5%.
Along the way, Kennedy was subjected to increased media scrutiny, as a series of bizarre revelations made headlines — all of them straining credulity yet, amazingly, true. In May, it was revealed doctors discovered a worm had eaten part of his brain, causing memory loss and mental fogginess.
According to a July Vanity Fair article, Kennedy appears to be biting into an animal carcass, but the image is actually of a dog that has been grilled. Kennedy responded, “It is a goat.”
Kennedy was identified as the unidentified person who, ten years ago, abandoned a dead bear cub in Central Park, making headlines and prompting a fruitless investigation by city officials, according to a New Yorker feature published this month. Kennedy, attempting to beat the news, bizarrely uploaded a video to comedian Roseanne Barr narrating the story.
According to Barr’s representative, the video was created after her podcast was recorded. Barr, who was accustomed to odd and unfavorable headlines, appeared perplexed when Kennedy related the story.
