In the close race for the White House, independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suspended his campaign and appeared alongside Republican candidate Donald Trump. He wants to work with a future President Trump, Kennedy said on Friday (local time) at the joint campaign appearance in Glendale. The campaign team of Trump’s Democratic opponent, candidate Kamala Harris, meanwhile courted Kennedy’s supporters.
“I no longer believe that I have a realistic chance of winning the election,” Kennedy said at a press conference in Arizona. He will not run in several contested states and will instead support the Republican candidate Trump.
The 70-year-old advocate of conspiracy myths was sharply critical of the Democratic Party, of which he himself had long been a member. Among other things, Kennedy complained that Kamala Harris was chosen as the Democratic presidential candidate after Joe Biden decided not to run again, without having run in the primaries.
A few hours after his press conference, Kennedy appeared at Trump’s campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, alongside the Republican. His appearance was celebrated with fireworks and the Foo Fighters song “My Hero.” On stage, Kennedy said he would work with a future President Trump to “get the chemicals out of our food.”
Trump said that together they would fight against “the corrupt political establishment” and “give control of this country back to the people.” In an initial reaction, he welcomed Kennedy’s decision as a “very nice endorsement” and called Kennedy a “great guy.”
At Kennedy’s side, Trump announced the establishment of an “independent Presidential Commission on Assassination Attempts” with a view to his family. This commission should “obtain all remaining documents relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.” The fatal shooting of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s uncle in 1963 is still the subject of a number of conspiracy myths today.
Kennedy’s family reacted angrily to the 70-year-old’s decision to call for Trump’s election. “Our brother Bobby’s decision today to support Trump is a betrayal of the values that are dear to our father and our family,” wrote Kennedy’s sister, human rights activist Kerry Kennedy, on the online service X. “It is a sad end to a sad story,” said the statement, which was also signed by four of her siblings.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the son of former Attorney General and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. The environmental lawyer is a proponent of conspiracy theories and an anti-vaccination activist. He has claimed, for example, that vaccinations lead to autism, WiFi causes cancer and chemicals in the environment turn children into transgender. This year he has already made headlines with statements about a worm that ate part of his brain.
Political observers are divided over how Kennedy’s decision will affect the election campaign. The 70-year-old, whose approval ratings currently lie between four and five percent, stressed that his name will remain on the ballot in most states. However, he will 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. That is why Harris’ campaign team is also courting Kennedy’s supporters. The Democratic presidential candidate wants to “earn your support,” campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon told Kennedy’s supporters. “Even if we don’t agree on everything, Kamala Harris knows that there is more that unites us than divides us.”
