AZ Mirror: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends his presidential bid, backs Trump

August 23, 2024

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Friday he is suspending his campaign and threw his support behind former President Donald Trump — the GOP presidential nominee.

The announcement from the environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, who has held on to a long-shot presidential bid, comes just a day after Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

“It’s with a sense of victory and not defeat that I’m suspending my campaign activities,” Kennedy said in Phoenix, Arizona, during a lengthy news conference.

“Not only did we do the impossible by collecting a million signatures, but we changed the national political conversation forever,” he said, adding that “I can say to all who have worked so hard the last year-and-a-half — thank you for a job well done.”

Kennedy acknowledged that he “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.”

He clarified that he is not terminating his campaign and that his name will “remain on the ballot in most states.”

The third-party candidate said he would remove his name from the ballot in about 10 battleground states “where my presence would be a spoiler.” He did not specify the states.

He said voters who live in a blue state can vote for him “without harming or helping (former) President Trump or Vice President Harris.”

In response, Trump thanked Kennedy during a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“That was very nice,” the former president said, adding that Kennedy is a “great guy” and “respected by everybody.”

Allies of Harris were critical of Kennedy’s decision to back Trump, though there was little surprise that he’d do so.

“Bankrolled by MAGA donors, RFK Jr. and Donald Trump have the same extreme vision of banning abortion nationwide — and now they’re both campaigning on Trump’s Project 2025 agenda to cut Social Security and Medicare and hike taxes on middle class families,” Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano said in a statement. “We welcome all voters into our diverse coalition of Arizonans ready to defeat MAGA extremism and elect Harris-Walz and Arizona Democrats who are ready to deliver real results.”

“After seeing the progressive base totally electrified by the Harris-Walz campaign at the Democratic National Convention this week, it’s clear that Kennedy’s election bid has run its course. Kennedy’s bid has always been a ploy to put Trump back in office. The momentum behind Kamala Harris has scrambled their strategy, but ours is stronger than ever,” said Sena Mohammed, the executive director of Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona. “The days of right-wing plutocrats cutting backroom deals to buy power are over. This election is about building power for us — people of color, unmarried women, and young people. We’re the ones who make up the New American Majority, and we are on the brink of electing the first Black woman to the highest office in the world. In her, we can see our own stories, and together we will write the future of America.”

Kennedy drew speculation about withdrawing his candidacy and backing Trump in the days leading up to the Friday announcement. On Thursday, he filed the paperwork to withdraw his name from Arizona’s ballot, per Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes in a post on X.

Kennedy has faced dwindling polling numbers and financial trouble for his campaign while undertaking a monumental task in getting on states’ ballots as an independent candidate. He initially ran as a Democrat but switched to an independent ticket in October 2023.

Kennedy — son of Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of John F. Kennedy — is part of one of the most storied families in Democratic politics. Throughout his campaign, he amplified anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and was seen as a possible spoiler candidate.

Harris-Walz campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said “for any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,” per a Friday statement in response to Kennedy suspending his campaign.

“In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart. Vice President Harris wants to earn your support.”

Meanwhile, Trump is set to speak in Glendale later Friday. His campaign said Thursday that a “special guest” would join him at the rally.