Robert Kennedy Jr drops long-shot bid for presidency and backs Donald Trump

Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free

The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House

Robert F Kennedy Jr has suspended his campaign for the White House and endorsed Donald Trump, claiming the Democratic party had “set itself to dismantling” democracy and conspired to keep him out of the race.

The third-party candidate had been polling at less than 5 per cent and failed to secure a place on the ballot in many states during an eccentric campaign punctuated by stories of a worm that ate part of his brain and a dead bear he dumped in New York’s Central Park.

“I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign. I am simply suspending it and not ending it,” Kennedy, son of Robert F Kennedy and nephew of John F Kennedy, said on Friday.

He later joined Trump onstage at a rally near Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, one of the election swing states, with the crowd chanting “Bobby” repeatedly.

The Republican nominee emphasised the pair’s connection to assassinations — Trump through the attempt on his life last month, and Kennedy through the killings of his father and uncle. Trump said, if elected, he would establish a commission on assassination attempts that would “be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of” president John F Kennedy and reviewing the attempt on his own life.

Kennedy’s announcement could deliver a small boost to Trump’s campaign, and comes as the former president has fallen behind Democratic rival Kamala Harris in many national and swing state polls with just two and a half months until the November 5 election.

However, a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Saturday showed that while 35 per cent of Kennedy’s supporters said they would shift to Trump, 34 per cent would back Harris.

Kennedy said he had been a “ferocious critic” of many Trump administration policies, but the men now agreed on issues including ending the war in Ukraine through talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, securing the US’s southern border, and protecting free speech.

“We just had a very nice endorsement from RFK Jr,” Trump said during a campaign appearance in Nevada on Friday. “I want to thank Bobby . . . That’s big. He’s a great guy. Respected by everybody.”

In a statement posted on X, five of Kennedy’s siblings described their brother’s decision to endorse Trump as “a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”

Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement after Kennedy’s announcement that “for any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you”.

Kennedy said Trump had suggested the pair “join forces as a unity party”. He approached Harris for discussions, but she “declined to meet or even to speak with me”.

Kennedy on Friday also railed against the Democratic party’s “censorship and media control”, saying it had conspired to prevent any “serious challenge” to President Joe Biden and had then conspired with media to “[engineer] a surge of popularity” for his replacement Harris.

Before launching his quixotic bid for election, Kennedy had gained attention as a vaccine sceptic, environmental lawyer and crusader against what he says is an “epidemic” of chronic diseases in American children. He also overcame years of substance abuse.

Before his exit on Friday, Kennedy was polling at 4.7 per cent nationally, compared to Harris’s 47.2 per cent and Trump’s 43.5 per cent, according to a FiveThirtyEight average.

Have your say

Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: tell us how the 2024 US election will affect you