One of the third-party presidential bids will be coming to an end later this week as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he will be ceasing his campaign and will endorse Donald Trump for the nation’s highest office.
According to Trump’s running-mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, there has been “a lot of communication back and forth” between the Trump and Kennedy campaigns, and there has been speculation of Kennedy being selected as a cabinet member in the event of a second Trump administration.
This does not come as a shock to members of the Democratic Party, as senior DNC advisor Mary Beth Cahill tells NBC “RFK Jr. was recruited by MAGA, funded by MAGA, and parroted MAGA talking points. No one should be shocked if he formalizes his relationship in an attempt to maintain relevancy.”
The RFK Jr. presidential campaign has been long, as he announced his candidacy in April of 2023, and he has been a vocal critic of Biden’s border policy as well as Trump’s aggressive military policy. He championed himself as someone outside of the two-party system, which his website describes as “broken”
RFK initially polled well and had a very well-funded media campaign, including an ad during Super Bowl XVIII which played on an ad run by his uncle, John F. Kennedy, during his own presidential campaign in 1960, as well as a rumor that he would choose New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be his running mate.
However, support for his campaign has been fading over recent months, and several statements made by Kennedy, such as his comments about having a brain-eating worm as well as dumping a bear carcass in Central Park, have not aided him.
Kennedy also faced groping allegations this past July from a former family babysitter. He did not outright deny the allegations, stating during a podcast interview: “I am not a church boy.” When later asked about the specific allegation, he gave no comment.
RFK Jr.’s campaign also recorded a staggering $3.5 million deficit at the close of July, and the Kennedy campaign was recently denied ballot access in his home state of New York since a court ruled that the address RFK Jr. used on signature petitions was not his residence.
The Kennedy campaign reached the lowest polling numbers so far on August 20, with FiveThirtyEight.com projecting RFK Jr. to take home only 4.7% of the national popular vote, compared to Kamala Harris with 47% and Donald Trump with 43.7%
The Kennedy campaign has not yet released a statement, although they are expected to by the end of the week.
