Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Drops Out of Presidential Race, Backs Donald Trump

Mar. 15, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump.Photo:Mario Tama/Getty, Angela Weiss-Pool/Getty

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Former U.S. President Donald Trump

Mario Tama/Getty, Angela Weiss-Pool/Getty

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.has dropped out of the 2024 presidential raceand expressed support for Republican nomineeDonald Trump.

The 70-year-old independent candidate and son of late U.S. Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedyannounced on Friday, Aug. 23, that he andhis running mate, Silicon Valley lawyerNicole Shanahan, were abandoning their long shot bid for the White House and siding with the Republican ticket over Democratic nomineeKamala Harris.

“In an honest system, I believe that I would’ve won the election,” he said during a planned speech in Phoenix, Ariz. He will remain on ballots in non-battleground states for those who still wish to vote for him, but plans to withdraw his name from states in which he believes he could become a “spoiler” candidate.

In the past month, rumors have spread that Kennedy and Trump were ironing out some sort of dropout deal, and this week, Trump teased that a “special guest” would join him onstage at his Phoenix-area rally on Friday evening.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspends his independent presidential campaign on Aug. 23, 2024.Rebecca Noble/Getty

Former Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel on August 23, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. Kennedy announced that he was suspending his presidential campaign and supporting Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rebecca Noble/Getty

Originally a Democratic presidential candidate, Kennedy kicked off hisWhite House campaign in April 2023. With a background in environmental law, he was best-known at that point for his controversies, including pushinganti-vaccine conspiracy theoriesand echoingantisemitic discourse.

In October 2023, after his Democratic primary campaign failed to take off,he broke from the partyand announced that he would be running as an independent.

Throughout the election cycle, members of Kennedy’s famous family distanced themselves from his political aspirations, including his sister,Kerry Kennedy, who issued a statement at the launch of his bid.

Kerry, who is the president of RFK Human Rights, noted in the statement that she did not “share or endorse his opinions on many issues, including the COVID pandemic, vaccinations, and the role of social media platforms in policing false information.”

When Kennedy dropped out, his siblingsreleased a statementcalling his endorsement of Trump a “betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines wave to supporters onstage after announcing his candidacy for president on April 19, 2023.Scott Eisen/Getty

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines wave to supporters on stage after announcing his candidacy for President on April 19, 2023

Scott Eisen/Getty

Kennedy’s decision to back Trump comes afterreportsalleged that the two held talks about partnering up in mid-July, following theassassination attemptagainst the former president.

Kennedy has since publicly apologized to Trump about the video leaking, writing on X that he “was taping with an in-house videographer” when Trump called him. “I should have ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately. I am mortified that this was posted. I apologize to the president.”

Trump and Kennedy also met in person in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention. Kennedy refuted claims that he was planning to bow out of the race at the time, adding that their “main topic” of conversation “was national unity, and I hope to meet with Democratic leaders about that as well.”

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But on Tuesday, Aug. 20, Shanahan revealed in an interview that she and Kennedy were thinking of ending their campaign in order to help Trump.

“There’s two options that we’re looking at,” Shanahan, an ex-Democrat, said on theImpact Theorypodcast. “One is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and [Tim] Walz presidency, because we draw votes from Trump or we draw somehow more votes from Trump. Or, we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump. We walk away from that and we explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”

source: people.com