Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’s suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing Donald Trump

PHOENIX — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent presidential campaign on Friday and endorsed Donald Trumpa late-stage realignment of the presidential race that could give the former president modest support from Kennedy supporters.

Kennedy said his internal polling showed his presence in the race would hurt Trump and assist Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, though recent public polls provide no clear evidence that he is having a huge impact on support for either major party candidate.

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Kennedy cited freedom of speech, the war in Ukraine and the “war on our children” as reasons why he would seek to remove his name from the ballot in states where the election outcome is uncertain.

“These are the primary reasons that convinced me to leave the Democratic Party to run as an independent and now to endorse President Trump,” Kennedy said.

But he made clear he was not formally ending his campaign and said his supporters could continue to endorse him in most states where they were unlikely to affect the outcome. Kennedy took steps to withdraw his candidacy in at least two states later this week, Arizona and Pennsylvania, but in the battleground states of Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, election officials said it was too behind schedule for him to remove his name from the ballot even if he wanted to.

Kennedy said his actions followed conversations with Trump over the past few weeks. He portrayed their alliance as a “party of unity,” an arrangement that “would allow us to disagree publicly, privately and seriously.”

Hours after Kennedy announced his decision in Phoenix, Trump was scheduled to hold a rally in neighboring Glendale. Trump’s campaign suggested that he would be joined by a “special guest,” though neither campaign responded to messages asking whether Kennedy would be that guest.

A year ago, some would have thought it unthinkable that a member of arguably the most storied family in Democratic politics would work with Trump to keep the Democrat out of the White House. Even in recent months, Kennedy has accused Trump of betraying his supporters, while Trump has criticized Kennedy as “the most radical left-wing candidate in the race.”

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Five members of Kennedy’s family issued a statement Friday calling his support for Trump “a sad ending to a sad story.”

“We want an America full of hope, united by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise, and national pride,” said the statement, which his sister Kerry Kennedy published on X“We believe in Harris and Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to support Trump today is a betrayal of the values ​​our father and our family hold most dear.”

Kennedy Jr., the son of the behind schedule Attorney General and Senator Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, acknowledged that his decision has caused tensions within his immediate family. He is married to actress Cheryl Hines.

“This decision is painful for me because of the hardships it will cause my wife, my children and my friends,” Kennedy said. “But I have the certainty that this is what I am meant to do. And that certainty gives me inner peace, even in the midst of storms.”

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The Kennedy and Trump campaigns have stepped up their compliments and engaged in backstage discussions in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the efforts. Both campaigns have spent months accusing Democrats of weaponizing the legal system to their advantage. And both have publicly suggested they might be open to joining forces with the shared goal of hurting Harris’ chances.

Last month, during the Republican National Convention, Kennedy’s son posted, then quickly deleted, a recording of a phone call between Kennedy and Trump in which the former president apparently tried to convince Kennedy to side with him.

Talks between the two camps continued, with close Trump allies quietly lobbying Kennedy to drop out of the race and endorse the Republican nominee, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

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Trump told CNN on Tuesday that he would “be thrilled” to have Kennedy endorsed, whom he called “a brilliant guy.” He also said he would “certainly” be open to Kennedy playing a role in his administration if Kennedy were to back down and endorse him.

Kennedy’s vice presidential candidate, Nicole Shanahan, also suggested on a podcast this week that his campaign might “leave now and join forces with Donald Trump.” While she clarified that she is not personally in talks with Trump, she did entertain the idea that Kennedy could join the Trump administration as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

“I think Bobby would be great in that role,” Shanahan said. “I fully support that. I have high hopes.”

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Earlier Friday, Shanahan posted on X that she was neither a Democrat supporting Kamala nor a Republican supporting Trump.

“I am an INDEPENDENT American who supports an idea, not a person or party,” she wrote. “I will continue to work to give a voice to the voiceless and to give power back to the people.”

At Kennedy’s event in Phoenix, Casey Westerman, 38, of Chandler, Arizona, who works in software sales, said she trusted Kennedy’s judgment and planned to vote for him but would support Trump if Kennedy said he supported his candidacy.

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“My decision would really depend on who he thinks is best suited to lead this country,” said Westerman, who wore a “Kennedy 2024” hat and voted for Trump in the last two presidential elections.

Kennedy first entered the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat but left his party last fall to run as an independent. He built an unusually robust base for a third-party candidacy, fueled in part by anti-establishment voters and vaccine skeptics who have followed his anti-vaccine activism since the COVID-19 pandemic. But he has since struggled with tight campaign finances and mounting legal challenges.

Latest polls put his support in the mid-single digits. And it’s unclear whether he would get even that much in a general election, because independent candidates often do not match the results from early polls when voters actually cast their votes.

There is some evidence that Kennedy remaining in the race would hurt Trump more than Harris. Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to have a favorable view of Kennedy, according to a July AP-NORC poll. And those who had a favorable impression of Kennedy were significantly more likely to have a favorable view of Trump (52%) than Harris (37%).