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BREAKING: RFK Jr. Drops Out, Endorses Trump

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  August 23, 2024 3:10 PM

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew from the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, an event brewing for days. There was initial speculation if he would just quit and walk away. However, sources have told multiple news agencies, including ABC News, that Mr. Kennedy has been critical of Democrats since announcing his third-party run. Kennedy has not been supportive of the Democrats’ replacement of Biden.

There was some palace intrigue regarding the Trump endorsement reports since a) his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, wants the Trump camp to admit Operation Warp Speed was a failure, and b) Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, isn’t keen on the former president at all. Yet, ahead of his speech in Arizona, Mr. Kennedy decided to endorse Trump, with the Associated Press reporting on his new Pennsylvania filing, which indicated he was jumping on the MAGA train (via AP):

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign said in a Pennsylvania court filing Friday that he’s endorsing Donald Trump for president.

The campaign also requested that he be removed from the Pennsylvania ballot, though it wasn’t immediately clear that he was officially dropping out of the race. It came a day after he sought to be removed from Arizona’s ballot. He is running as an independent.

Kennedy is set to speak in Arizona shortly “about the present historical moment and his path forward,” according to his campaign. Hours later, Trump will hold a rally in neighboring Glendale. Trump’s campaign has teased that he’ll be joined by “a special guest,” though neither campaign responded to messages about whether Kennedy would be that guest.

When he took the podium today, Mr. Kennedy torched the Democratic Party and the liberal media. That's where CNN cut to break. Kennedy also torched Kamala Harris for refusing to do interviews while slamming the 2024 Democratic National Convention for being a wholly manufactured event aimed at boosting their candidate's poll numbers based on vapid talking points. 

Katie wrote about the Democratic Party’s anxiety about RFK endorsing Trump, which could put the former president over the top in key states yesterday. In Arizona, Mr. Kennedy formally withdrew his name from the ballot. This move had to be done before ballots got printed, so we shall see how this shakes up the race. When Biden was in the race, Kennedy’s candidacy was hurting him. It flipped when Biden quit. We shall see how this recalibrates the race. These moves matter in an election that will be decided by tens of thousands of votes and razor-thin margins across a few states.