According to media reports, independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be dropping out of the race for the White House. The New York Times reported on Wednesday (local time), citing anonymous sources, that the conspiracy theorist will give up his candidacy and then possibly support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. CNN, for its part, quoted two anonymous sources as saying that Kennedy will likely end his campaign on Friday.
In the latest national polls by the political website “The Hill” this week, Kennedy was at 8.7 percent. According to experts, the votes of Kennedy’s supporters in some battleground states could be decisive in the close race between Trump and his rival Kamala Harris of the Democrats.
The dynamics of the election campaign have certainly changed since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race for the White House and Kamala Harris took his place. The Vice President is riding a wave of approval ratings that currently puts her ahead of Trump in the national ratings. However, this national lead is small – and above all, the election will not be decided by the national results, but by the results in the individual states.
Kennedy’s campaign team announced on Wednesday that Kennedy would address the nation on Friday from the swing state of Arizona “and speak about the current historical moment and his path forward.” Trump will also have a campaign appearance in Arizona that day. On Tuesday, he told CNN that if he won the election he would “certainly” be open to Kennedy, whom he described as “brilliant” and “very smart,” participating in the government. “I didn’t know he was thinking about dropping out, but if he was thinking about dropping out, I would certainly be open to it,” Trump said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the son of former Attorney General and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, like his brother John F. Kennedy five years earlier. The 70-year-old environmental lawyer is an outsider in the presidential race.
He is also considered a spreader of conspiracy myths that could scare off centrist voters. For example, he has claimed that vaccinations lead to autism, Wi-Fi causes cancer and chemicals in the environment turn children transgender. He also downplayed the storming of the congressional headquarters in Washington by fanatical Trump supporters in January 2021.
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