Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump in a Friday rally, capping off his unsuccessful long-shot bid.
In the conspiracy and blame-laden speech, in which the independent cited “relentless systematic censorship and media control” for his electoral failures, Kennedy said that, though he wasn’t dropping out, he would remove his name from ballots in key swing states and support Trump’s campaign.
Kennedy, a lifelong Democrat, said the party “had become the party of war, corruption, censorship, [and] big pharma,” days after reportedly begging Kamala Harris for a meeting to discuss endorsing her in exchange for a cabinet post, a request she ignored.
Kennedy, who accused the Democratic party of “abandoning democracy” by nominating Vice President Harris, went on to accuse the same Democratic lawyers who he alleged kept him off of ballots of trying to throw Trump — who led a violent mob to interrupt the election certification process on Jan. 6, 2021— in jail.
Though Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, seeded doubts about whether the candidate would endorse the former president without an apology for his efforts to develop and roll out a COVID-19 vaccine amid the pandemic, Kennedy proudly touted his talks with Trump over a role in a potential future administration, noting that the pair were aligned on key issues.
Kennedy, who accused the media of “colluding with the DNC” to stifle his campaign, boldly claimed that his campaign polled, at times, “in the high 20s.” Kennedy slugged between 5 and 10 percent in most nationwide polls, exceeding 15% only once, in a Forbes poll after the first presidential debate.
His endorsement could deliver Trump a small percentage of votes in key swing states, where he trails by narrow margins.
Kennedy, who spent tens of minutes ranting about seed oils, estrogen and pharmaceutical companies, also promoted in his speech the same conspiracy theories against vaccines that he’s lobbed for years.
In a statement, multiple of Kennedy’s siblings, who previously endorsed the Democratic ticket running against him, shared their disappointment at the endorsement.
“We believe in Harris and 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,” the statement, posted to X by Kerry Kennedy, read.
