(NewsNation) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said at an event Friday in Arizona that he’s “suspending” his campaign for the White House, and will attempt to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states.
Kennedy said he’s doing this as polling indicates his presence on some ballots would be a “spoiler” in favor of Democrats, with whom he does not agree.
“If you live in a blue state you can vote for me without harming or helping (Republican nominee) President (Donald) Trump or (Democratic nominee) Vice President (Kamala) Harris,” Kennedy said. “In red states the same will apply.”
In his speech, Kennedy had heavy criticism of the media, Harris and the Democratic Party as a whole.
“My uncle and my father both relished debate. They prided themselves on their capacity to go toe to toe with any opponent and the battle over ideas,” Kennedy said. “They would be astonished to learn of a Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like vice president Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with voters for 35 days.”
The Phoenix event comes a day after Kennedy filed paperwork in Arizona to remove his name from the ballot there. Kennedy also said in a court filing in Pennsylvania that he endorses Trump for president, according to the Associated Press, though a spokesperson later said to the AP that this was made in error. However, Kennedy said in Arizona Friday that he’s supporting Trump.
Kennedy said he endorses Trump because he believes the former president will quickly end the Russia-Ukraine War. Trump told NewsNation in a previous interview that Kennedy’s endorsement would be a “great honor.”
On Friday, he reiterated these comments to reporters, calling Kennedy’s endorsement “very nice.”
“He’s a great guy, respected by everybody,” Trump said.
Other members of the Kennedy family criticized the independent’s decision to endorse Trump.
“We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and Walz,” Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Chris Kennedy and Rory Kennedy said in a statement. “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.”
Earlier this week, Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, opened the door of the independent dropping out of the race when she mentioned the option during a podcast interview.
Shanahan said that rather than allow the election cycle to play out, Kennedy could choose to drop out and “join forces” with Trump. Trump said he would be open to providing Kennedy with a Cabinet position in the Trump administration should he win a return to the White House in November. Kennedy reportedly had also been seeking a Cabinet position from Vice President Kamala Harris.
Multiple media outlets, including NewsNation, reported that Kennedy had reached out to Harris seeking a meeting about a possible appointment should she be elected. However, no meeting took place, leading Kennedy to turn his attention to Trump.
In an interview with CNN this week, Trump referred to Kennedy as a “brilliant guy” and a “smart guy” whom Trump said he respects.
“I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out,” Trump said in the interview. “But if he’s thinking about getting out, certainly, I’d be open to (offering a Cabinet role).”
Friday’s announcement comes 10 months after Kennedy declared he would run for president in the 2024 race as an independent. Kennedy had previously entered the race as a Democrat but failed to gain traction against President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in July in favor of Harris.
RFK Jr.’s fight for ballot positioning
Kennedy, who had been a lifelong Democrat before shifting to running for president as an independent, failed to earn a spot in the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden.
Before shifting his party affiliation, an Emerson College poll conducted in August 2023 found that Biden has the backing of 61% of likely Democratic voters, with Kennedy at 12% and Marianne Williamson in third place with 4%. Undecided voters account for 23%.
The son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of John F. Kennedy, Kennedy claimed that CNN and the Democratic and Republican parties had conspired together to keep him from joining Trump and Biden on the debate stage.
His campaign sent out an email to supporters claiming that the two presidential candidates feared that his participation in the debate could “catapult” Kennedy into the national spotlight that would create “devastating consequences” for the two major political parties.
CNN cited Kennedy’s failure to meet polling and state balloting requirements to participate in a debate with Trump and Biden.
Instead, Kennedy hosted what he called “The Real Debate” on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and answered questions posed to Trump and Biden in real time.
He also joined NewsNation’s postdebate coverage in which he answered questions about the 2024 race. Before the debate, Kennedy wrote on X that 70% of Americans want a different choice than Biden or Trump, adding, “They’re tired of voting for the lesser of two evils.”
RFK Jr.’s NewsNation town hall
Kennedy participated in a town hall hosted by NewsNation in July 2023, when Kennedy was still seeking to earn the Democratic nod and asking voters to choose him over a sitting president.
“I’m running because I feel like my party has lost its way,” Kennedy said in the town hall. “The values that my uncle represented and that my father represented when they were Democrats have been neglected. I want to try to bring the Democratic Party back to those values.”
Kennedy said that those values focus on the middle class, on labor, on the well-being of minorities and the environment, as well as on civil liberties and free speech, which he said Democrats seemed to have forgotten about.
Where RFK Jr. stands on the issues
Kennedy, who referred to the Trump-Biden debate as “depressing,” has taken a stance on several key issues facing voters.
Among them, Kennedy said abortion should remain the choice of a woman and that state intervention on the issue should not happen until a fetus reaches viability. Kennedy has also said he does not support late-term abortions but also said that “every abortion is a tragedy.”
“My policy is more choices, less abortions,” Kennedy said.
On the matter of inflation, Kennedy said he would enact policies that favor small and medium businesses and that break up “too big to fail” businesses and monopolies.
On the border crisis, Kennedy agreed with Trump, saying Biden’s order to end the construction of the border wall and his dismantling of other security measures allowed for mass border crossings. Kennedy described seeing hundreds of people cross the border, a seemingly “hopeless” situation he said was “created by the federal government, that local people are being forced to hold the bag on.”
On the matter of Social Security, Kennedy vowed to cut military spending in half to put money into government-subsidized child care and Social Security funding.