At present, impartial candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. introduced his withdrawal from the presidential race.
“I’m not terminating my marketing campaign, I’m merely suspending it, not ending it,” says Kennedy. “My identify will stay on the poll in most states.”
Kennedy famous that he may nonetheless win the election in a contingent election, however that he would take away his identify from the poll within the ten states the place his candidacy may act as a spoiler. “When you dwell in a blue state you may vote for me,” he mentioned. “I encourage you to vote for me.”
Kennedy additionally used his speech to accuse the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) of waging authorized warfare towards himself and former president Donald Trump, evaluating Biden and the group to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He took purpose at Harris for not doing unscripted interviews with the press, whereas he and Trump have.
“Are we nonetheless a job mannequin for democracy on this nation, or have we made it form of a joke?” he requested. Kennedy famous that he was compelled to go away the race when it grew to become clear that he would “hand the election to the Democratic occasion.”
Kennedy spoke in glowing phrases about Trump, and confirmed that, after the assassination try on Trump he met with the previous president, and mentioned that they had many coverage targets in widespread.
Indications that Kennedy and Trump had been inching towards a political alliance has been constructing for months. In July, Kennedy traveled to the Republican Nationwide Conference, the place a video of Trump and Kennedy showing to debate a doable endorsement surfaced. Trump marketing campaign donor Timothy Mellon additionally supported the Kennedy marketing campaign with $25 million. Earlier this week, Kennedy’s working mate, Nicole Shanahan, advised in a podcast look that he would possibly drop out and endorse the previous president.
In a Thursday publish on X, Shanahan mentioned that Democrats are “petrified of the thought of our motion becoming a member of forces with Donald Trump.”
“MAGA Republicans elevated RFK Jr.’s sham candidacy as a software to mislead voters and harm Democrats, and RFK Jr.’s exit is an admission their gambit failed,” Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) spokesperson Ramsey Reid mentioned in an announcement.
The Kennedy marketing campaign didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Kennedy launched his marketing campaign as a Democrat in April 2023 after which as an impartial in October 2023, and seemed to be a potential spoiler candidate who may meaningfully influence the outcomes of the election. All through his marketing campaign, Kennedy appeared to have mastered the artwork of taking on no matter digital area was supplied to him. He appeared on podcasts and in TikTok Lives, and courted crypto donors. When he was not supplied a spot on the controversy stage alongside Trump and President Joe Biden, Kennedy hosted a parallel debate, streamed on-line and on X, seen by over 9 million individuals.
A scion of the well-known Kennedy household, Kennedy rose to prominence as an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist. In 2014, Kennedy joined the board of Kids’s Well being Protection (CHD), a nonprofit that falsely asserts that situations like ADHD, autism, and most cancers are attributable to publicity to radiation and dangerous chemical substances, and specifically focuses on disproved claims concerning the hyperlinks between vaccination and situations like autism.
