After the suspension of the election campaign of independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the campaign team of the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has been courting his supporters. Harris wants to “earn your support,” campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told Kennedy’s supporters on Friday (local time). “Even if we don’t agree on everything, Kamala Harris knows that more unites us than divides us.”
Kennedy announced on Friday at a press conference in the US state of Arizona that he would not run in several contested states in the presidential election on November 5 and would support the Republican candidate Donald Trump. Kennedy also used his appearance to sharply criticize the Democratic Party, of which he himself had long been a member.
Among other things, the 70-year-old complained that Harris was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate after US President Joe Biden decided not to run again, without having run in the primaries.
Trump welcomed Kennedy’s decision as a “very nice endorsement.” “He’s a great guy,” the former president added.
Political observers are divided over how Kennedy’s decision will affect the election campaign. The scion of the legendary Kennedy dynasty, who is known for spreading conspiracy myths, has approval ratings in the single digits.
The 70-year-old stressed that his name would remain on the ballot in most states. However, he would not run in around ten particularly contested states “where my presence would be a disruption.”
In the currently close presidential race between Trump and Harris, a few thousand votes in some of these so-called swing states could make the difference. Dan Kanninen from Harris’ campaign team also warned that the race for the White House would be “very, very close.”
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