In advance of a planned speech Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign said in a Pennsylvania court document filed Friday that he Donald Trump for the president.
Kennedy’s independent campaign also called for his removal from the Pennsylvania race, even though it was not immediately clear that this meant he officially dropped out of the race.
Kennedy had planned to talk in Arizona on Friday to debate “the current historical moment and his path forward,” his campaign said. Hours later, Trump will hold a rally in neighboring Glendale. Trump’s campaign has indicated he shall be joined by “a special guest,” but neither campaign responded to messages about whether Kennedy could be that guest.
The late development within the presidential campaign could give the previous president some modest support amongst Kennedy’s supporters.
A 12 months ago, some would have thought it unthinkable that a member of arguably essentially the most famous family in Democratic politics would work with Trump to maintain a Democrat – Vice President Kamala Harris – out of the White House. In recent months, Kennedy accused Trump of betraying his supporters, while Trump criticized Kennedy as “the most radical left-wing candidate in the race.”
The motion in Pennsylvania was filed on Friday in a case by which Kennedy defended his records for the election within the swing state against the objections of two Democratic activists.
The filing said he had requested that his campaign’s nomination papers be rejected “as a result of his current support for Donald Trump” in order that he himself wouldn’t appear on the Pennsylvania ballot.
The Kennedy and Trump campaigns have been increasingly complimentary of one another and talking behind the scenes in recent weeks, based on people acquainted with the trouble. Both campaigns have accused Democrats for months of using the legal system to their very own advantage. And each have indicated publicly that they might be willing to affix forces with the shared goal of limiting Harris’ probabilities.
Last month, Kennedy’s son released after which deleted a video through the Republican National Convention showing a phone call between Kennedy and Trump by which the previous president appears to be trying to steer Kennedy to affix his side.
Talks between the 2 camps continued, with close Trump allies quietly pressuring Kennedy to drop out of the race and support the Republican candidate, based on an individual acquainted with the trouble who spoke on condition of anonymity to debate private conversations.
Trump told CNN on Tuesday he would welcome an endorsement from Kennedy, whom he called a “brilliant guy.” He also said he would “certainly” be open to Kennedy playing a job in his administration if Kennedy drops out and endorses him.
Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan also openly hinted in a podcast this week that his campaign team could “stand down now and work with Donald Trump.” While she clarified that she isn’t in talks with Trump personally, she is considering Kennedy joining Trump’s administration as health secretary.
“I think Bobby would be excellent in that role,” Shanahan said. “I fully support it. I have high hopes.”
Earlier Friday, Shanahan posted on X that she was neither a Kamala Democrat nor a Trump Republican.
“I am an INDEPENDENT American who supports ideas, not a person or a party,” she wrote. “I will continue to work to give a voice to the voiceless and give power back to the people.”
At Kennedy’s event in Phoenix, Casey Westerman, 38, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, and works in software sales, said she trusted Kennedy’s judgment and had planned to vote for him, but she would support Trump if Kennedy said he supported Trump.
“My decision would really depend on who he thinks is best suited to govern this country,” said Westerman, who wore a trucker hat emblazoned with the words “Kennedy 2024” and voted for Trump within the last two presidential elections.
The planned speech by Kennedy, a son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, comes at a time when his campaign has lost momentum.
Kennedy Jr. initially entered the 2024 presidential race as a Democrat but left the party last fall to run as an independent. He built an unusually strong base for a third-party candidacy, fueled partially by anti-establishment voters and vaccine skeptics who’ve followed his anti-vaccine work for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic. But since then he has faced tight campaign funds and mounting legal challenges, including a recent ruling by a New York judge that he shouldn’t appear on the ballot within the state because he listed a “fake address” on nomination petitions.
Many members of Kennedy’s clan have been vocal of their disagreement with Kennedy Jr. on policy issues, and a few publicly endorsed Biden before he dropped out of the race.
Current surveys his support within the mid-single digits. And it’s unclear whether he would even reach that number in a general election, as third-party candidates often don’t achieve the outcomes of previous surveys when voters actually forged their votes.
There is a few evidence that Kennedy staying within the race would hurt Trump greater than Harris. According to a July AP-NORC poll, Republicans were significantly more prone to have a positive opinion of Kennedy than Democrats. And those that had a positive impression of Kennedy were significantly more prone to have a positive opinion of Trump (52%) than of Harris (37%).
In an interview with MSNBC on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday, Harris’ communications director Michael Tyler said her campaign team welcomes Kennedy voters if the independent candidate drops out.
Voters who see Trump as a threat, who’re searching for a brand new path for the long run, or who want “government not to interfere in their personal decisions are in good hands with Kamala Harris’ campaign,” Tyler said.
For Trump, Friday marks the top of per week of visits to swing states by which he has tried to divert attention from the Democrats’ celebrations. Harris’ presidential nomination Chicago.
He traveled to Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona to attend events highlighting his policy proposals on the economy, crime and safety, national security and the border. He will end the week on Friday with stops in Las Vegas and Glendale.
