RFK Jr. Ends Campaign, Backs Trump as Wife Cheryl Hines Says “All Parties Are Truly Good People”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called off his long-shot presidential campaign and has thrown his support behind Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The move is a stunning bit of political calculus from a scion of America’s most storied Democratic dynasty. Teased earlier this week by the candidate and his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, the news was made official Friday in a rambling, accusatory announcement delivered by Kennedy in a Renaissance hotel ballroom in downtown Phoenix.
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Kennedy assailed the Democrats in his speech, accusing the party of illiberal tactics that “precipitated a palace coup” against President Joe Biden to install Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate, based on “nothing — no debates, no policies, no interviews, only balloons.
“How did the Democratic Party choose a candidate who has never given an interview?” Kennedy asked. “Over the course of a campaign where my poll numbers reached at times the high 20s, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and CNN combined gave only two live interviews to me. Those networks ran continuous hit pieces [on me].
“We inspired a massive independent political movement,” said Kennedy, thanking the 100,000 volunteers who collected signatures and canvassed for his campaign. “I will not let your accomplishments go to waste. … I’m here today to describe the path forward. … In my heart, I no longer feel we have a path to victory. … Our polling consistently showed that by staying on the ballot in the battleground states I would be handing votes over to the Democrats.”
Kennedy announced that he is removing his name from ballots in those battleground states (though remains on the ballot in others). Citing three issues — free speech, the war in Ukraine and children’s health — Kennedy said he would throwing his support behind Trump.
Kennedy’s TV star wife, the Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines, put out her own statement via social media, saying, “The decision has been made to suspend my husband’s, Robert Kennedy Jr.’s campaign and I’d like to extend a sincere, deeply heartfelt thank you to every person who has worked so tirelessly and lovingly on his campaign. They have accomplished feats that were said to be impossible. They have gathered over a million signatures, more than any candidate in history and have achieved ballot access across the country despite the roadblocks and lawsuits that have been brought against them for the sole purpose of keeping Bobby off of the ballots so no one would even have the opportunity to vote for him.
“I deeply respect the decision Bobby made to run on the principle of unity. Over the last year and a half, I have met some extraordinary people from all parties — Democrats, Republicans and independents. It’s been my experience that the vast majority of all parties are truly good people who want the best for our country and for each other. It has been an eye-opening, transformative and endearing journey,” Hines continued.
After a stressful year in which an armed trespasser was arrested on the grounds of the couple’s L.A. home, the move is likely to cause further strain in the household, as Hines has been open in the past about her contempt for Trump and his policies.
Trump, whose lead in polls has significantly diminished since President Joe Biden left the race and Harris became the Democratic nominee, has welcomed Kennedy’s support and has teased a cabinet position for Kennedy should he win the November election.
An anti-establishment candidate who pushes conspiracy theories and an anti-vaccine agenda, Kennedy has long been seen as an election spoiler and might have easily siphoned precious votes away from Trump. In a January Hollywood Reporter cover profile, Hines, 58, said, “My opinion, just seeing what I see, is that Bobby is more likely to take votes from Trump than he is votes from Biden.”
By professing fidelity to the Trump campaign, Kennedy becomes one less headache for the beleaguered former president as he attempts to win a second term.
The announcement drew a response from five of Kennedy’s siblings, who in a statement posted to Instagram said, “We want an America filled with hope and bound together by a shared vision of a brighter future, a future defined by individual freedom, economic promise and national pride. We believe in Harris and [running mate Tim] Walz. Our brother Bobby’s decision to endorse Trump today is a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.”
The demise of Kennedy’s bid marks the end of one of the stranger chapters in presidential election history. Kennedy, 70, originally ran as a Democrat, then recalibrated his campaign to run as an independent.
The campaign was met with grumbles from both ends of the political establishment — and nowhere louder than from Kennedy’s own family, several of whom released statements distancing themselves from their relative and denouncing what they characterized as an attempt at disrupting democracy by challenging Biden, then the assumed candidate.
But the Democratic National Committee mounted multiple, costly legal challenges to Kennedy’s bid to get on ballots, while the Republican National Committee did not, according to sources within the Kennedy campaign, which in turn tipped Kennedy’s loyalties toward Trump. In the end, Kennedy had successfully petitioned to be on 19 state ballots. It would not be enough.
At its peak, Kennedy’s campaign was polling in the low double digits. But amid Harris’ surprise surge toward the presidency, Kennedy’s coffers, depleted by various legal bids, ran low and his popularity dipped to 5 percent.
Along the way, Kennedy was subjected to increased media scrutiny, as a series of bizarre revelations made headlines — all of them straining credulity yet, amazingly, true. In May, it was revealed doctors discovered a worm had eaten part of his brain, causing memory loss and mental fogginess.
A July Vanity Fair story alleged that a photo of Kennedy biting into some kind of animal carcass actually depicted a barbecued dog. Kennedy countered that it was a goat.
This month, a New Yorker profile revealed Kennedy was the mystery individual who left a dead bear cub in Central Park a decade ago, grabbing headlines and sending city officials on a futile investigation. Trying to get ahead of the news, Kennedy posted a video recounting the story, inexplicably, to comedian Roseanne Barr.
A rep for Barr says the video was made following the taping of her podcast. Barr, herself no stranger to strange and negative headlines, looked baffled as Kennedy shared the tale.
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