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Following months of increasingly obvious hints, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will drop his longshot Independent presidential bid and endorse former U.S. President Donald Trump, the 2024 GOP nominee, according to a Wednesday report from NBC News.
The network cited “two sources familiar with the plan,” including one who said the Kennedy and Trump campaigns are working out the details of a joint appearance. On Wednesday morning, Kennedy’s campaign sent out an email stating that the candidate “will address the nation live on Friday about the present historical moment and his path forward.”
Reacting to the news, Mother Jones Washington, D.C. bureau chief David Corn said on social media that “if RFK Jr. endorses Trump, it will demonstrate he doesn’t care anything about climate change, clean air and water, women’s freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.”
“Just one disingenuous conspiracy theory-monger joining forces with another,” Corn added.
RFK Jr. is an absolute fraud but we already knew that. https://t.co/g7I8YcGllV
— Zach Halper (@Zanath10) August 21, 2024
According to NBC News:
Convincing Kennedy to back Trump has been an ongoing project of the nominee’s eldest son, Donald Jr., former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and wealthy donor Omeed Malik, according to a source familiar with the efforts who requested anonymity to divulge internal campaign deliberations. The three men have worked behind the scenes in meetings and calls with both principals to negotiate RFK’s exit and endorsement, the source said.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that “there’s been a lot of communication back and forth” between Kennedy and his campaign.
The news comes a day after Nicole Shanahan — the billionaire who gave Kennedy millions of dollars before he chose her as his running mate — said during a podcast interview that the campaign was considering a move to “join forces with Trump.”
Earlier in the year before she was fired, former Kennedy New York campaign director Rita Palma privately told supporters that her “No. 1 priority” was siphoning votes away from President Joe Biden, then the presumptive Democratic nominee. Palma called Biden the “mutual enemy” of Kennedy and Trump supporters. Some ultrawealthy Trump supporters also helped bankroll Kennedy’s campaign.
It is not known what percentage of Kennedy supporters back Trump or the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, or how the anticipated suspension of Kennedy’s campaign and his endorsement of Trump will affect the outcome of the tight presidential contest. According to a Pew Research Center poll published last week, Harris had a razor-thin 46%-45% edge over Trump nationwide, with Kennedy a distant — but potentially pivotal — 7%.
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