Support truly
independent journalism
Robert F Kennedy Jr is running for the presidency as an independent, but he has reportedly discussed ending his campaign and endorsing his Republican rival Donald Trump in exchange for a job in his administration.
Kennedy recently spoke with Trump to discuss the possibility of dropping out of the race and throwing his support to the former president, according to The Washington Post, citing four people familiar with the talks.
Trump called Kennedy in the hours after Trump was nearly killed in an apparent assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, and he floated the possibility of a cabinet-level position or other senior role charged with health and medical issues, according to The Post.
No deal was made, and Trump’s team was reportedly concerned about the optics of a quid pro quo.
Kennedy and Trump have not denied that they spoke but neither campaigns have confirmed any job offers were laid on the table.
Kennedy and Trump also made plans to meet in Milwaukee during last week’s Republican National Convention, according to The Post.
In a leaked video clip of a portion of a call between Trump and Kennedy circulated on social media last week, Trump can be heard detailing the shooting and echoing vaccine conspiracy theories that have reverberated around Kennedy’s campaign and political career. Trump also said working with him would be “big.”
“Anyway, I would love for you to serve,” Trump tells Kennedy on the call. “I think it would be so good for you and so big for you. And we’re gonna win — we’re gonna win — we’re way ahead of the guy.”
Kennedy later said he was “mortified” that the clip was leaked.
“When President Trump called me I was taping with an in-house videographer,” he wrote on X. “I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately. I am mortified that this was posted. I apologize to the president.”
Kennedy told The Post on Monday that he is “willing to talk to anybody from either political party who wants to talk about children’s health and how to end the chronic disease epidemic,” and that he found Trump more open to those discussions than the Democratic National Committee.
“I have a lot of respect for President Trump for reaching out to me,” he told the newspaper. “Nobody from the DNC, high or low, has ever reached out to me in 18 months. Instead they have allocated millions to try to disrupt my campaign.”
Hours after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign Sunday, Kennedy held a 30-minute press conference to argue that Biden and the likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are indistinguishable, and that a “cabal” will ultimately select the party’s candidate.
“This is the swamp. These are swamp creatures,” he said in remarks from Massachusette. “And his pick as vice president is a salute to the CIA, to the intelligence community and to the military industrial complex.”
The Independent has requested comment from the Kennedy and Trump campaigns.
